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i am here at these waters
by Huiying Dandelion Chan
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i am here
at these waters
where no one
knows my name
transcended borders
to arrive surpassing fame.
i have mired in love's
old, ancient swamps
consoled crocodiles
sought guidance from above.
i have read poems to ponds
watched scum overtake
the next day
i have sung to rivers
only to see baby tadpoles
drift away.
i have been asked to leave
private property after arriving
suitcase tightly packed
took midnight chariot rides
where there was no turning back.
particle ashes fall, make skin inflamed
it was easier to blame fires
than to stop a runaway train.
morning sun beckons
anew for the days unclaimed
i catch light rays
in my hands
willing
if this is the life given
i will breathe
like earth is heaven.
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 Huiying Dandelion Chan (he, him, keoi 佢) is a visionary healing practitioner, herbalist, award-winning poet, and educator. huiying's work reclaims ancient ancestral healing practices that have been severed through migration and colonization. his body of work lives at the intersections of personal and societal transformation and is rooted in love and belief in liberation. he writes to connect with the unseen and unspoken, so we can feel and heal. huiying's poetry and scholarship is published in Best New Poets (2021), The Offing, The Margins, Asian American Journal of Psychology, and elsewhere. he has received fellowships from Kundiman, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, DreamYard, Kairos, and the Mellon Foundation. huiying has facilitated, performed, and taught his work internationally. for more info, visit huiyingbchan.com.
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