In the burning forest,
I keep wishing for God to hear me.
I keep trying to crawl
into a vast cocoon.
Is it my rightful home
or God’s own chamber?
Smoke and stray bullets
are the only real language.
But in prayer,
somewhere behind the heart;
Does God open the door
hidden in the room —
the one leading
to a rainforest
where butterflies
are damp with rain?
Yucheng Tao is a Chinese poet and the editor of The Argyle Literary Magazine. He serves as a reader for Palette. His work has appeared in StarLine*, Strange Horizons, White Wall Review, Wild Court, Ink Sweat & Tears, NonBinary Review, and is forthcoming in I-70 Review, North Dakota Quarterly. He has twice received an honorary award from the Dark Poet Club Contest.