Seeing Shen Yun in Milwaukee
The curtain rose—divine, resplendent stage,
Where heaven’s hues met earth in living grace.
The dancers turned as petals in the wind,
Each step a vow, each motion born of truth.
Then silence fell—a single voice arose,
A song of gold descending from the clouds.
Her form dissolved, the singer disappeared—
No mortal stood before my watching eyes.
From where she sang, pure radiance unfurled,
And golden light poured outward through the hall.
It filled the air—it filled my heart and bones,
It pierced through flesh, through thought, through memory’s veil.
Each sound became a wave of living light,
Each note a thousand suns that breathed as one.
Through me it passed—bright mercy without end—
And I was scattered, turned to grains of sand.
The Ganges flowed within my very soul,
As darkness fled, dissolved in boundless day.
The filth of lifetimes, hatred, grief, and pride,
The waft of poisoned lies from Marx’s cup—
All gone, released into the cosmic sea,
Consumed by love that knew no trace of pain.
The light withdrew, yet lingered in my chest—
A sun reborn, still pulsing soft and clear.
The stage returned, the dancer bowed once more,
But heaven’s gate had opened in my heart.
O Shen Yun—harp of gods, bright mirror pure—
You sing the world’s redemption into being.
Through beauty’s art, the Buddhas’ mercy wakes
The multitudes as daylight finally breaks.
Yulia Nova is a real estate developer and artist based in Otisville, New York. She holds a BFA in painting, drawing, and sculpture in clay from the Peck School of the Arts in Milwaukee, WI, where her award-winning poetry was published in 2009–2010.
