Chin Li

by | Dec 18, 2020 | Featured, Poetry

 

 

 

Afternoon Walk  

I went out for my afternoon walk, and dreamed of
no man’s land: a Bir Tawil, a terra nullius fort;

I went out for my afternoon walk: orchids bloomed
on pseudobulbs ― pink, yellow and vanilla to sport;

I went out for my afternoon walk: some children
excitedly learning to run; others, babbling, trying to talk;

I went out for my afternoon walk: riverside paths,
the Botanics, parkland, bridges and cycle lanes, on the trot;

I went out for my afternoon walk: my shadow, accidentally
let loose, had gone off of its own accord;

I went out for my afternoon walk, to catch this present
moment, knowing, though, it could never be caught;

I went out for my afternoon walk, and, unawares,
treaded on a line of broken thoughts;

I went out for my afternoon walk, and came home
with a headful of unfathomable faults;

I went out for my afternoon walk… yes I went out,
willy-nilly, for my afternoon walk…

 

 

 

Chin Li’s work is published in Big Fiction Magazine, Confluence, Glasgow Review of Books, Gnommero, Gutter, Ink Sweat & Tears, Litro and MAP; his audio story, “The Feather and the Hand” was broadcast by the Glasgow-based art radio station Radiophrenia in May 2019.