Chen-ou Liu

New Life in the Land of the Maple Leaf

“Name, country of birth, place of birth, date of birth, sex, marital status,”  the Immigration Officer fires out question after question, trying to define the borders of my lifescape.  He wants to confine me to a statistically recognizable category: immigrant.

after one stopover
and twenty hours of flying 
in Toronto streets
I walk with newly ascribed roles:
immigrant and Chinese

in hazy moonlight
I gauge how much of myself
to allot
to this new house and that once home,
two places an ocean apart

---

About the Author

Chen-ou Liu is the author of two award-winning books, and his tanka and haiku have been honored with many awards. To see his work, visit his Poetry in the Moment blog.