NARRATIVE

It is believed there existed a species of dog as prophets.
They smell events before their occurrences:
the falling of a nest, the emergence of will in a womb,
even a dissolution of affection.

I, as an ordinary person,
could only live in the nowness of any moment,
could only recognize incidents
within their temporality:

When I saw a mime throwing three oranges in the air
and catching only two, I thought, that was a story–
not the memory of it, but the outline
and the shading of its happening.

However, my understanding of narratives often drew despise.
As people prefer to reach rather than wander, to know more than to intuit.
Even when it comes to fruits, they popularize berries over melons,
for the latter holds unnecessary “mystery”.

The prophetic dogs are scarce but available always.
Once, I went to them about a missing envelope.
Initially they said such matters were out of range
for they could only see forward, not backward.

But I argued that disappearance is a subject of the future, and the lost too.

—

from Believing YoYo–published by Tilted House

Buy it from Tilted House (maybe DM Cameron? Not sure it’s on the website yet)

—

Cynthia Chen is a writer based in New York City, originally from Shanghai. Her chapbook Believing YoYo is out from Tilted House Press.