Bei Ling

Words of Winter

So far away, so dim
Behind the block of time
Plastered up with illuminating words
Triumphant as a home-coming those crazy crazy days
Days when arms are crossed
So distant that your hands feel tied

Winter restlessness
Winter cannot keep the sunshine over us
You distance yourself from it all
But you still hurry in your steps

Nothing, there's nothing
No visible veins that cannot be severed
No wind sweeping over the roof
No words sought in the desperation
Splashing, hollow sounds rise
Sounds of the human
Sounds of light and dun earth

Quietude of the whole night

[Translated from the Chinese by Wang Rong and Anastasios Kozaitis]