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Yu-ching Lin, 31 years old, a poet and artist, participated in the 6th International Literary Creation Competition, from Nantou (Taiwan). You can read her competition poems at: https://festivaluldearte.com/2025/06/20/yu-ching-lin-poetry-group-iv/.

Here is another poem:

The Unique Angel’s Tears

Not insensitivity or unawareness.
It’s the clamour of misgivings that holds me back.
Yet after turning away, I’m entwined
With minutes and seconds with you, intimately in my mind.
With your gaze of ardent passion, I water the thrill of excitement.
In the deep slumber of night, memory doesn’t close its eye.

Days briefly settle. I expect to meet your longing gaze again,
But only see cold indifference. What stirs —
Multi-hued moments, reveries, and heart fragments too —
With the warmth of tears, blending into a liqueur Du Kang¹ about you.
I drink it all — top note: pinkish softness;
Middle note: sour astringency;
Base note: obscure dimness. The tone is freshness —
Ending in an abrupt aftertaste, bitter with saltiness.

Stagnated punch triggers a rash of melancholy,
Stimulating nerves of inspiration — aftereffects are metabolised
Into verses that proliferate unusually.
The burning stuck in the throat
Is forcibly undone by reason. Sobered,
I turn away — in the present — a sign of recovery.
Sorrows eased — heart and emotions reboot.

Ambiguous romance unaged bears too high a proof of headiness.
One sip of its murky sweetness is enough.
As one deficient in the ALDH2² of love,
I’ve completed the tolerance test. Uncorking —
Is also sealing. Thanks for this flavour: a sampling
Of a rite of passage into adulthood.
From now on, no more taste of it.
The unique Angel’s Tears³ cling only to memory’s glass…

They’re tasted by the hippocampus when nostalgia comes to pass.

Footnotes:
¹ Du Kang: The god of wine; a metonym for alcohol. Quoted in Cao Cao’s Short Song Style
(〈短歌行〉): “What can ease sorrow? Only Du Kang.”
² ALDH2: Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2, an alcohol-metabolizing enzyme on chromosome 12.
Deficiency causes alcohol intolerance, flushing, rashes, and an increased risk of cancer.
³ Angel’s Tears: A wine-tasting term (also “wine tears”) for the streaks sliding down the
glass after swirling, caused by the Marangoni effect, often indicating higher alcohol or sugar
content.