Upstate

How far do you have to go before the state turns up? Verily, verily along the river and back to the plots of native shrubs and vines by these hills or mountains. While duties are confused with tariffs for the safety of a bowling ball, the world spins on thin ice. It being harder, the locals say, to find a lake to skate on, as we know the lines and lines of careful seedings that nourish the island like trains of people holding up a wake, who’s safe with brownshirts on the loose. History peeks out beneath every stone left unturned while words intervene wherever it hurts. Jeffrey YangJeffrey Yang’s latest book of poems is Line and Light. He is the translator of Bei Dao’s autobiography, City Gate, Open Up.