Public Republic

Changming Yuan

Photo: FelixHuth

On the local screens, one beside another
It shows low clouds drifting like fog
That can be seen on the walls of highrises

Here the rain downpours as if all the tabs
In the heavens have been turned on
Curtains of beads, giving us more privacy
More freedom, more serenity

And what can we do? Let us remain indoors
Listening to the raindrops beating together with our hearts
Watching our entire neighborhood cleansed, taking on
A fresh look, while just five streets east, to us
Is never far enough, a place of sound and fury
A vanity fair all too familiar to our old selves

Here our children playing with us, innocent and full of joy
A new surrounding where we are still strangers
A corner where there are neither friends nor frenzy
Where we can always sit at a distance, observing