Winter Poem I (Double Life)

I speak Hong Kong Cantonese
before Colonial English
I speak Hong Kong English
before adopting
a Canadian sheen
I ride the streetcar
I rode the tram
I dreamed when I was pregnant
on a double-decker bus
going uphill downhill
I couldn't be more vulnerable
couldn't be more scared
when Alien was first screened

Bauhinia
Maple leaf
or
Trillium?
the island was flooding last Summer
Winter comes too soon
I need hot hot Tim Hortons
and socks that made of wool
I have the best dreams at seven
when most people
out from their houses
out from their condos
clouds of
white
icy breath
on the run

I know
after solstice
light is coming back
the next day
will be longer
and brighter

one more day
one more year
one more game

Published Jan 6, 2018
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