From an Unknown
He opened an envelope
heavier than usual
A notepad fell to
the kitchen floor
like a book on coffee table
A heart on the cover
“♥ for you” handwritten
right bottom in the corner
on handmade arty paper
white and gray
Short poems roamed
through ten pages
with affection
Like a bee his heart
began flying high
“Is it for her or me?
From him or her?”
He wondered if
he wrongly
opened the mail
meant for his wife
He pondered if
it was from the artist
he encountered
a month before
A mistake
or destiny
Hot blood rushed out
of his racing heart
Li Ruan, born and raised in Beijing, China, is a Manhattan-based educational consultant and
emerging immigrant poet and writer. She felt a special calling to write later in life during the
COVID pandemic. Crafting in English has deepened her intimate connection to the language and
empowered her to promote cultural understanding. Li’s work has appeared in Humans in
Pandemics, Restless Books, Flora Fiction, Assignment Literary Magazine, Persimmon Tree,
Storyhouse, Hamilton Stone Review, New York Public Library Zine, and Lowestoft Chronicle.
