by Qimanqul Awut
tr. Wang Ping, from Yusupujiang’s translation from Uighur

A horse, with worn hooves,
Comes out of the poplar woods
No sound of bells,
Only silence in the desert, trees sparkling in green.

It’s stuffy everywhere, like noon
Wind blowing in the water ditch
A woman is running from distance
She forgot her purse

Like the naan in my imagination
Soaked in salty tears
In the ascetic’s attire
Standing in line with rocks

by Li Yun
     trs. by Wang Ping

Child, please don’t open the box, no need to see everything in it
Not everything in this world needs to be understood
The box brings you good news, also death

I was too ignorant to follow the rule
I opened my mouth — I spoke
It was a grim day when I opened the box
Please remember the lesson

In reality, the box was empty.  In fact,
The box was full . . .

Thunder descended, treasures opened, secrets revealed
Sunlight broke the window, ten thousand arrows through my
heart
Plagues came in waves, conspiracy exposed, blood rained down
Mars invasion?  A comet through the sky, a cry of a newborn

I was a box, I broke my own rule
I opened the box, I opened myself
To fly or stay put
But Child, the only thing I never regretted —
Is to open my mouth and speak

by Jimu Langge
     trs. Sophia Kidd

only in the mountain evening
can you feel
what’s slowly closing in
what’s slowly edging away
a few strange coos and caws
appear as strangely as they fade
if you’re sleeping
then you’re a part of it all
if you awake
you hear and think
and you know what you’re dealing with
like maybe you’re real small, and it’s huge

by Jimu Langge
     trs. by Sophia Kidd

when i’m not in culture
where am i
there’s no answer to this question
i am in myself   what is this
the soul goes out of the body
and rises from the top of the head
or it drops from the ass
face things in front of you
the city, a young girl and the road
what would it be worth to look and not see

when i am most responsible
and least responsible
i blame culture
and get quite excited
i don’t feel noble
after calming down
nor do i think i’m
under the radar

opposed to culture
i appear in the mirror
smash the mirror and
turn into a shard}
it’s impossible
and i’m convinced its culture’s fault
so culture is like the sun and i
blame the sun
which shines down on me
i blame myself

if you’re gentle to subordinates
then open up to others too
you see, there’s not much
in this world
worth opposing