The Wheels, the Wheels

Time rolls out a scroll of a few strokes
Spring and autumn slant to history

The self advances toward delusion
Ten thousand things advance to enlightenment

What will trickle, what will drill through
Traveling in the feathering bluebirds

Life departs the face
Genealogy begins to pray

In the new vernacular

In the aviary of

Reprinted with permission from The Orange Tree by Dong Li, published by the University of Chicago Press. © 2023 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.