The Square

Shuttling atop the towering steel frames,
workers move with practiced ease, nimble and free,
like kites dancing in mid-air.
You are the string that tethers those kites,
one end releasing their dreams,
the other measuring their scope.

At every moment, you define how restraint
can be another form of freedom.
Sunset, sunrise, day after day,
there is joy, and there is sorrow.

You are also the umbilical cord of life,
one end nurturing the prosperity of a foreign city,
the other silently guarding the hopes of hometowns.

​

About the Poet: Wang Yaoming, born in Xi'an, has wandered construction sites for over twenty years, a literary drifter who cleanses his soul through poetry. His works have been published in print publications such as Chang'an News, Student Writing Journal, Shougang Wujian News, Times Youth, and Zhengzhou Evening News, as well as on online platforms like Under the Banyan Tree, Migrant Worker Poetry Weekly, Modern Poetry, and Anhui Poetry.