From “Rock Paintings in Alxa”
Translated from the Chinese
Rain breaks on black rocks
Stars fall, one by one, on blue stones
A thousand years, ten thousand years
And the wind sings: “Ten thousand
One thousand, all nights are the same”
History storms out of the camels’ backs
Cooking fragrance lingers between goats’
Lips. Don’t ask the secrets of my ancestors
Their thunder is carved on the faces
Of these rocks
The eagle carries blue sky and
Drops it on the ridge of the Mandela
White clouds ride on the heads of mountain
Goats. An elk runs into the rock, dressed
In flowers. Moonlight trickles out of stones
Wind flows like a stream
Telling a story
Of the ancient nomads
My ancestors lived here
Where tall grasses grow
Notes:
This poem is part of the portfolio “Wind Crossing Grasses: Poems from Poems from China’s Dragon Rivers.” The folio is an excerpt from the forthcoming anthology of the same name, translated and edited by Wang Ping, with a co-introduction from Gary Snyder (Kinship Poetry Press, 2026). You can read the rest of the folio in the July/August 2025 issue.
Source: Poetry (July/August 2025)