Stanford Cheung- Three Poems

Stanford Cheung is a Canadian poet and musician from Toronto. He is the author of the chapbook 'Any Seam or Needlework' from The Operating System Press (2016). His works appear in Nomadic Journal, BLUEPEPPER, and other places.

KILLDEER

I learned as a child that

birds carry burden

When a thrush sings,

they don’t hold

enemies between their smile

They don’t mind

loving themselves

as much as having

lyrics to soothe without

knowing what

keeps them sane

or

how the rustles of leaves

strangles them firm

in the thumb of a savior

like a burning fingernail

lodged in salvation

Their song of pride

hung in memories

of mistakes we paint,

and the cross of bliss

with people at war.

WHAT MAKES A POEM

words that delude,

conspire,

and thank me

not much.

as solitude

turns into

passersby,

where every

movement,

whose step

swims with you,

then plunges

to sea,

dark vigor,

into order,

gloved,

with a high victory

almost human,

to the restless

painting,

like a stranger

reciting lines

for a final

time,

as abstract

at belief.

her.

  

SOMERSAULTS BY THE AVENUE

It would kill me

to stand here

but walk the grass

as if yesterday

was a fact

         

no matter

what defines

a sky

found in

graffiti

on the monument

of death,

alive

or put together

like an orphan

    

on the road