Author Archives: Don Yorty

My Brother by Yu

… A class of mine did great speeches. The speech I liked the best was given by a young man named Yu who is so nervous that when he speaks his right hand is clenched in a fist and his … Continue reading →

Hai Zi translated by Liu

3 Aug ’10

… Liu is an English major who helped us American faculty out at the hotel on the campus at Wuhan University by making life easier with quick thoughtful attention. And he was kind enough to do a translation of the … Continue reading →

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31 Jul ’10

… “Today and tomorrow is all we have. Yesterday, no matter what some will say is gone,” I write, but as soon as I do the wall I’m leaning on says, “I will still be here when you’ve gone. Yesterdays … Continue reading →

Poets in my Homeroom: Wuhan 2010

28 Jul ’10

Some of my homeroom students also attended my poetry workshop. As I’ve mentioned before they aren’t English majors or poets. They are scientists and mathematicians. Li Feng works with electric information, Lily is a chemist, Celeste and Kelvin are … Continue reading →

My Homeroom

28 Jul ’10

… Homerooms are like your children. You always love the ones you get. This year at Wuhan University was no different. My students have a wide range of majors: mathematics, electrical, hydrogen, and power engineering, biology, chemistry, surveying and mapping, … Continue reading →

A Mirror by Muhammad Izchi

28 Jul ’10

… This short poem was written summer of 2010 by Muhammad, a Muslim student of mine from western China. He is the first student at Wuhan I’ve ever had who wasn’t Hun Chinese. There are more foreign students on campus, … Continue reading →

Dusk by Ruiqi Liu

26 Jul ’10

When I first met Rich, the summer of 2008, I thought she was very shy, but I also knew she was confident enough to give me a poem she had written for a class assignment. Like most of my … Continue reading →

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25 Jul ’10

It is so hot before you run you sweat. Fanning himself a man and his wife walk Holding hands. He sings and she doesn’t with Just as much force. It’s dawn. The lighter it Gets the more the runners … Continue reading →

A Scene by Iris Shieh

25 Jul ’10

… One way for an ESL teacher to get students to write in English is to have them translate a poem they know from their own language. Iris was in my poetry workshop summer of 2010. She introduced me to … Continue reading →

You Are Beautiful by Di Wu

25 Jul ’10

Every country has its radicals, thank goodness, most within a stone’s throw, and if you look, you will find them, like the truth. Even radicals can be in love, and feel its pangs, and write about it. Di Wu … Continue reading →

Exquisite Corpses: Wuhan Poetry 2010

25 Jul ’10

… The six photos above were picked at random. I first picked 13 because 13 is one of my favorite numbers, then I flipped a coin, tails (odds) and heads (even) to eliminate either 6 or 7 of them. It … Continue reading →

Eden writes a poem after Alice Notley (a beautiful thought)

24 Jul ’10

… Eden is my youngest student. She is 15 and still in high school. Like many 15 year olds, Eden is a joy: every moment is something new. I showed the class a poem by the poet Alice Notley called … Continue reading →