Today we travel China in the final quarter of the 20th Century for a poem from Gu Cheng, who found his way out of obscurity and rural exile to international acclaim, making a name for himself as the voice of a new generation of artists and thinker in China. His work is translated by Aaron Crippen in the collection
Nameless Flowers: Selected Poems of Gu Cheng.
Curriculum Vitae
I'm a sorrowful child,
never grown up.
From the grassy north shore
I followed
a bright white road into
a city full of gears,
narrow alleys,
wooden shacks, each lowly heart.
In a bland haze of smoke I
keep telling green stories.
I believe in my listeners--
the sky, and sea spray.
They will cover my everything,
cover my undiscoverable
grave. I know then
the grasses and wildflowers
will gather, as the light dims,
kissing over my sorrow.
I just found your blog by doing a search of Gu Cheng. I have Nameless Flowers and have become entranced by this poet's work. As a poet myself I enjoy simplicity in verse. What I love about Gu Cheng's works is his incredible mastery of imagery and metaphor much like that of Plath yet Cheng's grasp of simplicity, especially in nature is very profound. I am loving Nameless Flowers very much. I'm glad I came across your blog.
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