Broken Sonnet
By John Yau
The world weeps. There are no tears
To be found. It is deemed a miracle.
The president appears on screens
In villages and towns, in cities in jungles
And jungles still affectionately called cities.
He appears on screens and reads a story.
Whose story is he reading and why?
What lessons are to be learned from this story
About a time that has not arrived, will not arrive, is here?
Time of fire and images of fire climbing toward the sun
Time of precious and semi-precious liquids
Time of a man and a woman doused in ink
Rolling across streams and down valleys
Trying to leave some string of words behind.
Copyright Credit: John Yau, “Broken Sonnet” from Paradiso Diaspora. Copyright © 2006 by John Yau. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Source: Paradiso Diaspora (Penguin Books, 2006)