out the porthole
a primordial sun
wears the colour it was born with
the stewardess keeps altering its flavor
sometimes it tastes like orange juice
other times, Chinese tea

I feel myself ascending
into the divine world
not far away, Zeus and the Jade Emperor
are comparing notes
about how to woo a lady
the gods’ lost chargers
hide in long sleeves of fairy maidens

night falls, moonless
stars are out
no other celebrations
in the firmament
except for a silent pair of wings
fashioned out of iron

///

Author’s note: The Jade Emperor in Chinese culture and traditional myth is one of the representations of the first god. In Taoist theology he is one of the three primordial emanations of the Tao.

—
Cui Yuwei is a bilingual poet and translator based in China. Her poems and translations are widely seen in Australia, the US, Canada, Vietnam and India. Her pocket poetry collection Fish Bones published by Flying Island Books is forthcoming soon in Macau. Currently, she works as an English lecturer in Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai Campus in China.