Three Poems by Zhihua Wang

These three poems by Zhihua Wang meditate on life while lauding writing as an ingress towards the realization of the poet’s best self…

by: Zhihua Wang

Pen

I keep you handy
in case I feel unassured
of remembering things
or want to scribble down ideas
rushed in a sudden.

You lie in the harbor
of my thumb and fore figure –
I long to hold you there,
a sign I have words to trail
and stories to tell.

Comparing with cursor
flickering on the screen,
fingertips dancing on keyboard,
you’re just small. Yet you
focus my strength

when I write,
feel my heart throbs
when I draw, record the mess
of my thoughts, and stand
by my truthfulness.

My Reflection

There's a person I haven't yet
seen today – a person who’s engaged
with herself in the kitchen this morning,

a person who was nurtured
by a full night’s sleep, every inch
of her skin must be glossy. A glimpse

of her glory in the lighted bathroom
mirror doesn’t suffice. I long to meet her
in my portable, circular, dual-sided,

3x magnifying looking glass. Hoist
the blinds, lift the window, in nature’s
light, I sit before her, examine her,

stroke her — even with the added lines,
the trials and errors, she still holds
my full attention, hold my hopes

for miracles, feeling I can reach her
best form in the end, and she
will love me, every day, a little bit more.

Life

...........I

Maybe you’ll surprise me
for a brief moment,
but I’ve been excited
for a whole night.

Maybe you’ve arranged
for me a common growth,
but I’ve waited
for my entire blooming season.

Maybe you’ll show me
an earthly love,
a mundane world,
and a future that we all foresee –

but I’ll give you everything,
and devote myself 
to you, always, 
in full.

..........II

When the sun is shining bright,
will it connect you to the past? 
The song floats on the small playground 
on campus, under the basketball
hoops, our flying dreams.

We carry our dreams
and stumble forward. 
Sooner or later, there will be bumps
ahead that make us fall,
sometimes because of ourselves,
sometimes, someone else.

Life, always at a certain point,
in a certain way, lets us hurt.

Zhihua Wang is a poetry candidate in the Arkansas Writers’ MFA Program at the University of Central Arkansas. She worked as the Managing Editor of Arkana from 2019-2020. Her recent work is shown/forthcoming in Aji Magazine, Last Leaves, San Pedro River Review, Nurture, The Curator, Eunoia Review and more. She is working on her first poetry collection and a collection of translated poems.