Junhao Cheng

Poem8 stanzasRegional Silver Key, Poetry · 2024

Two Worlds

Leaving Xiamen — the green hills and strawberry fields, the pond where I played tag, coconut trees in the fall — and finding one self across two homes.

  1. Body left but soul stays aloneBury it in XiamenOn the sloping green hillsand strawberry fields near home

  2. Embark on this journey, reluctant to goLeaving memories behindplayground tag near Yanwu pondMy childhood – all I know.

  3. Coconut trees - roadside in the FallThe ambrosial smell of braised beefFiery sunsets - bliss to the sensesThis is what I recall.

  4. Time builds a wall, Will I find a way through?Too many sentiments left unspokenBut in the recesses, behind the wallThree words “just be true”.

  5. Assume a new identity in the land of freeAmidst diverse expressive facesLeft behind in Xiamen, my confidenceAs I struggle to find the new me.

  6. On the surface, another Asian kid with glasses,Observing the world only through a sea of booksDoing nothing but studying for weeks up weeksSolving problems by drawing an axis.

  7. But slowly the real me will emergelike a magician who reinventswith a secret power sourced from foreign fieldsInsecurities, I will purge.

  8. Two worlds but just one soulUncovered from the green hills of homeTarnished a bit from the journeyBut still a powerful gold.