On a Rainy Day

Changming Yuan

I open, you

Close, or you

Open, I

Close, either my umbrella

Or yours

To keep both ourselves

Dry from this cold

Rain, we have

To share

The one

And the same

umbrella, if we

Must walk

Hand in hand 

The Man under the Buttocks

Changming Yuan

The most handsome man

Is the man under the little buttocks

Of an infant boy, the one who is giving

The child a thrilling experience

By carrying it on his broad shoulders

Flapping their arms together

Like wings feathered with boyhood dreams

Making it feel as if gliding, flying

Swirling around

Years later, the child will become a pilot

A pioneer, someone who operates a machine

To fly in an entirely new space

The little child will not remember

The way the man waved their arms

Nor did it see the beaming smile

On the man’s face when they

Jumped over the ditch, dodged

Blocking tree branches, or ran

Against a sudden cold wind

But the child can never forget

How it felt

As the man kept running forward

Under its little buttocks