Xi Chuan is one of the most influential contemporary poets in China. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Notes on the Mosquito (New Directions, 2012). His honors include the Lu Xun Prize for Literature, the Modern Chinese Poetry Award, and the Zhuang Zhongwen Prize for Literature. He teaches at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and lives in Beijing, China.
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The Other Side of the River
On the other side of the river there is a flame a flame burning May burning August when the pagoda tree blooms, the professor with lentigo bows to her when orange blossoms fall, an heir of graceful demeanor waves to her and smiles yet on the other side of the river she remains, still burning like the underwater glistening of red coral like a red straw hat blown away in the breeze when I saw her yesterday she was totally still, looking to the sky and today she lowers her head to watch the river if it were overcast and raining, what would she do there on that side of the river? —her flame would not go out a poet looks to her a farmer looks to her a Dialectical Materialist looks to her she is on the other side of the river, burning burning May burning August
From Notes On The Mosquito by Xi Chuan. Copyright © 2012 by Xi Chuan and Lucas Klein. Reprinted with permission of New Directions. All rights reserved.
From Notes On The Mosquito by Xi Chuan. Copyright © 2012 by Xi Chuan and Lucas Klein. Reprinted with permission of New Directions. All rights reserved.
Xi Chuan
Xi Chuan is one of the most influential contemporary poets in China. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Notes on the Mosquito (New Directions, 2012). His honors include the Lu Xun Prize for Literature, the Modern Chinese Poetry Award, and the Zhuang Zhongwen Prize for Literature. He teaches at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and lives in Beijing, China.