Bowen Yan
The clock strikes twelve,
like the tide reveals the sand
Dependable,
My float on the waves.
And every year, I see you come again.
Only you never leave me
when everyone else does
without a self I guess you wouldn’t
you come again like the tide washing up
coming again, again, again.
You nor I get a choice
About your coming that marks my year.
In many ways, Bowen Yan’s discovery and growing interest in poetry was by pure chance. Yan, a sophomore at Carlmont High School, first explored poetry in his eighth grade English class, but did not particularly resonate with it. It was not until he discovered the newly found Art Showcase Club this year that he decided he wanted to pick up poetry again. This, partnered with connecting with fellow poet Michelle Lo, combined to inspire Yan to create his poem “Stable.”
“Stable” is a free verse poem that explores the stable nature of the passage of time even as many other elements in our lives are marked by instability. As people enter and exit our lives, the one thing that remains consistent is something as abstract as time. The line “You nor I get a choice / About your coming that marks my year” particularly reflects this idea, as the narrator finds a certain joy and comfort in knowing the routine nature of the seasons. Time is the narrator’s one companion, a solemn yet beautiful insight into the nature of human loneliness and loss. “Hold on,” the poem seems to be saying, for soon enough the next season will be here to greet you.
Art Showcase Club 