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Best Poems Written by Julia Cheng

Below are the all-time best Julia Cheng poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Fly

May you have wings to delight in lands feared by men
and eyes cut finer than a diamond

Curiosity that remains forever fierce and young
A spirit humble, relentless and strong

and on the bleakest

heart-breaking winter nights

always find
a welcome home
in a freshly warm
mound of dung

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Fall of 2009

I will know when the end is near
how I wasted these golden years
the stories of the wise and dear
will not save me from what I fear

this weary face that was never mine
let's take off, leave it behind
as home becomes a place to find
for once in my life, I'll take my time

so snap my spine and fire this bow
count the rings that begin to show
singing to me more years than I know
it's time we finally let ourselves go

no shame or stones or sins to atone
here where we are, new and alone

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Mucking

fifty years
this house stood against
the tide of generations
leaving in its wake
lizards and roaches 

still weaker
we wield hammers
and peer at each other
through glass windows

the masks went on
hauling the debris of years
to the curb 

we came here to rebuild
we said, as the stove
hung its head and the fridge
slipped quietly out the door
teal paint chips
snowed in the kitchen
but couldn't touch us

in three hours
the sun lit up
soft brown bones

we drove home
as if home was
external, separate
from our work
and we were so
blissfully intact

the walls had to come
down first, he told us

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

The Teacher

drinks wine after school
has far too many

eruptions from

	small pitchers
	small bowels

	paper cuts
	budget cuts

	that	 	terrible mother

	racism filtered
	a 6 year old prism

and crayons

	all over

		the floor

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow

"our budget allows for
one janitor, and that spot
is taken,"

is what he said
before he took one
look at my credentials

"sir, I come to ask
about the teller job,"

I says and he just
leaves

turns around to say

"come back in 25 years"

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Palliative Care

who knows why
we are drawn
to the dark places
in people's lives

my daughter said
she wouldn't want
that grief and 
death stuff all day

inching in
holding hands
wouldn't you

do something
differently if
you had more time

maybe there
was a talk
or not a very
good one about it

we wonder if
we should have
done more

psychosocial comfort
sensitive improved
continuity of care

there is no cure
so we focus on
higher quality

life affirming
in the midst of
life limiting

not hospice. they
have more than
just six months

left usually and
we just thought
there should be

a structure of care
set up for this
kind of thing

Feb. 22, 2009 - 1:18 AM

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Tanabata

on dark nights
I think of friends
shining across continents:
a constellation
whose form is yet unnamed
whose nature is love

I remember you
I remember this
small moments cupped in my hands
an offering to our great becoming

wherever I go
I carry your light

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Dragon Boat

the sky upends
as we cut the lake
quick white strokes 
in the dark current

the flow of bodies
a single bright ripple

somewhere in the space
between the blade tip
and water, it occurs:

the mind releases
the rain falls

silver salt scales
bloom across 
our arms and backs

rising, falling
like the breath
of a dragon

coursing out
each jagged
exhalation

all returns to water

the dull roar
in the distant horizon
calls us home

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

To Have and To Hold

you are the rigid lines
of a spine unseen
you are my bonsai woman
you are my broken queen

the instep of a dancer
inclined impossibly
you are Venus famished
with flies beneath her feet

you are the victor, her valor,
the sword deep in her chest
you are my iron maiden
and I shall have no rest

not until you are
mine plus mine are we
do I take you to be
lawfully wed to me

Details | Julia Cheng Poem

Mom Versus the Gym Teacher

I don't know racism
but I do know

that woman
screaming 
in my face

well, I didn't stand for that
even if I had to grab 
the neighbor's kid
to translate for me

that woman
looking down
on my Chinese face
I had Julia write 
a Formal Complaint
the principal agreed
and did nothing

a weak woman
just imagine if I knew english

the hardest thing
was letting them walk on us
timid and quiet Chinese

hah!

no Chinese in government
no social services
no translators
I came too early