Poem

The Wish

By Dong Li
Graphic illustration with photo of birds flying in blue sky over black-and-white photo of lower part of man's face with city view in background
Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic. Sources: Scott T. Smith / Getty; kool99 / Getty.
Magazine Cover image

Explore the January/February 2024 Issue

Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.

View More

once again
of not coming
to know
the strident
sorrows
unfulfilled for
fatherland
of not seeing
loved ones
their remains
drifted
in the far earth
of saying father
father and to be
heard
in this benign
beginning
a gray sky
a fleet
of nonbirds
of faces
of inaudible
singsongs
not a word
unrecognizable
atoned in this
despicable pit
of a large burning
once and for all
again a face
your face
flies
into nothing
the wish
never to be
in-
visible

This poem appears in the January/February 2024 print edition.

About the Author

Dong Li is a multilingual author who translates from Chinese, English, French, and German. His debut poetry collection, The Orange Tree (2023), was the inaugural winner of the Phoenix Emerging Poet Book Prize.