He Zhong
He Zhong: also Kelie Sardinnuofu, Jona Nuobuwangdian, and Lao Han. He was born in Huang Cheng, Mount Qilian on the Tibet Plateau. His father is from the Yaoguerkelie tribe, his mother is an Anduo Tibetan. His poetry books include In the Mountains, Book of Tibet, Talk about You Talk about Me. He’s also a writer, photographer, film maker. He lives in Lhasa.
The Red Horse from My Destiny
by Yuan Xin
trs. by Wang Ping
I’ve been waiting for you, red horse from my destiny
Your dark eyes sparkling with emotions
Dawn and dusk melt your golden wings
Your blood comes from love and its destruction
Your mane and light from the heart’s window
No neighing can hold you back
I sing from the two strings on my horse-head violin
One for despair, the other for hope
I’m the Mother, tied to the Earth
I see you, give you my life, tend your wounds
But I can’t fly with you to touch the unknown land
How can I warn you about the unknown
Your flying hooves churn dust into lightening wheels
Ignoring the tiny lives under your feet
You place yourself in front of the battle
A smile on your face, serenity behind closed lips
I love your lips, closed
A hint of mustache above, mouth corners lifting
Like a child new to the world, under Mother’s watch
She let you run wild in your youth
On the infinite grassland
Till you reach the mystery of sky, thunder, stars, clouds
I let go the rope
A wild horse needs to live on wild grassland
I’m not the grass, or the land
I’m a mountain fixed to the ground
Guarding the home where you take off
I’ve passed many seasons, alone
Getting food and spirits ready
For the day you reach your destiny
Insomnia
by Yu Yan
trs. by Chen Xiaoyuan
the night was an enormous train, heading
hauling from the abyss of sleep
ribs were railroad ties stretching
from my body into the endless dark
serried wheels ran me over
I heard my bones cracking
this gigantic insect
crawls over the wildness of my abdomen
travels through the lush woods
veers round soaring peaks
pausing at the station of sturdy knees
at last, it rides out of my body
passing through bedrooms and the study
out through the living room French window
April 28, 2015
mountain top
by Yang Li
trs. by Sophia Kidd
on a mountain top way up high
floats a white cloud
after the white cloud has drifted by
then on that mountain top way up high
there’s no white cloud afloat