The High-Flying Birds

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Music does not matter

 

Not much poetry to read

 

The fresh air by the lake

Only helpful to the lungs

 

Throughout the year, I rarely dream

But meditate a few times

 

My life depends on others

 

Some people, whose names I don’t know

Others, already dead

 

They watch me from behind

The swaying leaves, if I’m right

I take a cut of their happiness

 

The high-flying birds are here

 

Those kind birds, why

On every flight do I feel

The bad omens they’ll drop

 


飞鸟

 

音乐无所谓

 

诗歌可读的不多

 

湖边的清新空气

只对肺有所帮助

 

一年之中,我很少做梦

有几次冥想

 

我的生活,离不开其他人

 

有些人,我不知道姓名

还有些已经死去

 

他们都在摇曳的树叶后面看我

如果我对了

就会分掉一些他们的幸福

 

鸟飞过来了

 

那些善意的鸟,为什么

每次飞过时

我都觉得它们会投下不祥

YE Hui is an acclaimed Chinese metaphysical poet who lives in Nanjing. His poems in English translation have appeared or are forthcoming in 128 Lit, The Arkansas International, Asymptote, Bennington Review, Circumference, Copihue Poetry, Guernica, and Lana Turner. The English full-length translation of his latest collection, The Ruins, is forthcoming from Deep Vellum.

Dong Li is a multilingual author who translates from Chinese, English, French, and German. He is the English translator of The Gleaner Song by the Chinese poet Song Lin, and The Wild Great Wall by the Chinese poet Zhu Zhu. His debut collection of poetry, The Orange Tree was the inaugural winner of the Phoenix Emerging Poet Book Prize.
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