Aiden Heung
Every Map of the City
I’m here, a dot on the map, moving somewhere,
always moving, knowing not
the south from the north, well it happens,
the city goes in all directions but I
tread on straight lines, five kilometers per hour
and I thought I could at least know
something about the city
or myself
surrounded by shops restaurants and parks.
There are always boundaries, things unfathomable,
and eating an ice cream
feels like a revolution when the city dictates heat.
Maybe I should walk in a circle to meet myself
and say hello say I’m sorry
but we can never escape to the sea
(It’s there, blue on the map)
Maybe I should fold the map to feel a bit
dimensional or emotional
for I’ve spent ten years webbed into the streets.
Last night I dreamed
I drove on octopus highways to the edge.
I woke up remembering I couldn’t drive at all.
always moving, knowing not
the south from the north, well it happens,
the city goes in all directions but I
tread on straight lines, five kilometers per hour
and I thought I could at least know
something about the city
or myself
surrounded by shops restaurants and parks.
There are always boundaries, things unfathomable,
and eating an ice cream
feels like a revolution when the city dictates heat.
Maybe I should walk in a circle to meet myself
and say hello say I’m sorry
but we can never escape to the sea
(It’s there, blue on the map)
Maybe I should fold the map to feel a bit
dimensional or emotional
for I’ve spent ten years webbed into the streets.
Last night I dreamed
I drove on octopus highways to the edge.
I woke up remembering I couldn’t drive at all.
Biography
|
Aiden Heung is a Chinese queer poet born and raised on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. He writes about his personal past in a Tibetan Autonomous Town and the city of Shanghai where he currently lives. His words appeared or forthcoming in The Australian Poetry Journal, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Poet Lore, Rust & Moth, Parentheses, Southern Humanities Review, The Brooklyn Review among many other places. He is a reader of world literature. He can be found on Twitter @AidenHeung. Visit his website for more information: http://www.aidenheung.com/
|
