“Meaningless Circulation”1 min read

Illustration by Anderson X. Lee

Do I know the directions?
Will I walk down York Mills and
somehow slip into Ximenkou Station,

riding the subway down to Tianhe? No;
the picture on the Ikea dresser has become
permanent, the shoes I’ve tied to a pole

have run away, and my favourite shirt
has coffee stains that won't come off.
I don’t want to get a new one.
Come and look, last time I tried to dive from
my balcony, I landed on the other side
of the ocean, holding a soaked copy of

Chinatown Ghosts and an ink filled mug.
What does this mean? It might represent
something I could tell you if

you met me at the next station, beside
the Ikea on Leslie street.
Do you know the directions?

Alex Deng was born in Guangzhou and raised in Toronto. Alex has appeared in the anthology Chickenscratch 2024, and other magazines. He is working toward his MA in English (Public Texts) at Trent University. He loves eating noodles and reading poetry.