In the poem “True North · 2025”, Cathy Xinman compresses history, migration, labour, and aspiration through symbolic density and image-driven language. The poem embodies temporal simultaneity, where past, present, and future cohabit within a unified poetic space. It operates on multiple levels of meaning—functioning simultaneously as allegory, historical narrative, and national reflection. Its figures, both human and symbolic, serve as vessels of collective identity, resilience, and memory, inviting readers to witness the formation of belonging, direction, and identity through both lived experience and historical continuity.
True North · 2025
By Cathy Xinman
A child set out at dawn on July the first—
with rails beneath, snow ahead,
and hands that would not rest.
East met West along a line of iron,
where the flag rose—
red as maple,
white as the snow he trusted.
He was learning to say “home”.
She walked
Through Northwest Passage—
through centuries of storm.
When the world asked,
“What does True North mean now?”
She answered—
with pride,
with memory,
where snow still teaches humility.
It is a child
whispering a first word,
carrying homelands within it.
It sings
not just to the sea,
but to the world.
Cathy Xinman writes poetry in English and Chinese. Find her English-language collection, Where You Love Yourself, on Amazon. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia and on Bluesky @pancouver.
