Jerrold Yam (b. 1991)
SELECTED POEMS
Self-Portrait in Mandopop
After Mavis Hee’s 城里的月光 (Moonlight in the City)
城 my dream of this nameless city always
里 begins with towers of irregular height
的 stoking miniature fires behind doll’s house
月 windows like the horizon’s altar in one
光 of these toy rooms my son a corporate
把 lawyer is busy engraving dark shapes
梦 on a blazing screen does he think of me
照 as much as I relive the past or do windows
亮 serve as blunt mirrors tonight’s full moon
请 is a paper ring he crafted at kindergarten
温 then handed me in a washed jelly cup
暖 with the expiry date etched along one
它 of its ridges we have exchanged places
心 he reaps my striving I reap his absence
房 as the city dismantles itself in my heart
Author’s Note: The first character of each line forms the refrain of the song’s chorus, meaning “moonlight in the city illuminates dreams; may the moonlight also warm the city’s heart”.
by Jerrold Yam
first published in Magma Poetry (2024)
