These are unusual times. These poets are tale-tellers of their world.                  (All rights reserved.)
ISBN 978-0-6156287-7-6
21st Century Chinese Poetry, No. 3 (Apr 2012)

This issue features  the poetry of   Ren Xianqing 任先青,  Rong Rong 荣荣,  Li Shangyu 李商雨, Chen Yanqiang 陈衍强, Song Huiyuan 宋惠元,  Chen Guiliang 陈贵亮, Li Wei 李威,Yan Hen 胭痕, Liu Congmei 刘聪美.

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Contents

Li Shangyu 李商雨

Rong Rong 荣荣

Chen Yanqiang 陈衍强

Song Huiyuan 宋惠元

Li Wei 李威

Chen Guiliang 陈贵亮

  • The Emperor's City  |  帝王都
  • Witness  |  见证
  • Springtime Remembrance  |  清明

Yan Hen 胭痕

Ren Xianqing 任先青

  • Like the Grass, I Sense Autumn Is Here  |  我如草木 知秋
  • Bell Chime at Dusk  |  黄昏钟声
  • Tribute to Mother on Grave Sweeping Day  |  清明祭母

Liu Congmei 刘聪美

  • Genghis Khan and his Hawk  |  成吉思汗和他的鹰

From 21st Century Chinese Poetry, No. 3

  • Those days there always seemed to be
  • chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs
  • under the flower trellises
  • and, as always in this world, the lonely and unexplained
  • outbursts of drinking, crying...
  • — Li Shangyu, Unsightly Scenes

  • The bells are benevolent hands,
  • offering the poor a reason to smile
  • and bestowing on the rich
  • a few ethereal thoughts.
  • — Ren Xianqing, Bell Chime at Dusk

  • The bricks are blind, the nails are naive,
  • the shingles are impulsive, and love is crystal clear.
  • His skinny body sways as he sings.
  • — Rong Rong, A Old Song

  • Going into December,
  • the whole country is on the move to deliver spring.
  • Migrant workers are going home;
  • beautiful women show up on the streets
  • beneath coverings of wool or down...
  • — Chen Yanqiang, January (or An Evening of Reading)

  • ---This is me in the same dream with the plum flower,
  • and I asked her “With everyone to choose from,
  • why did you marry the spring zephyr?”
  • — Song Huiyuan, In the Same Dream with the Plum Flower

  • Farther away there is nothing but fog,
  • maybe near a wide river,
  • as to where the river is,
  • no one knows and no one cares.
  • — Li Wei, For the Heck of It

  • Neither the city nor its rough outskirts are desirable to me,
  • but I've long since given up writing;
  • now I wear a sword, sell medicine,
  • do whatever it takes.
  • — Chen Guiliang, The Emperor's City

  • Tell us,
  • Ancestors, we are here to make our offerings,
  • what do you want?
  • But He looks down from above
  • and sees only long slender hooks
  • hanging down from the oil lamp.
  • — Yan Hen, A Night of Nihilism

  • The hawk flies into the clouds,
  • then comes to land on his hand.
  • Genghis Khan trusts him more than any man.
  • — Liu Congmei, Genghis Khan and His Hawk