Poem by Hong Junzhi

Translated by Bei Ta

Key to the Heaven

    ——An Impression of Austria

Falling, falling with broken wings

The wailing tomb is falling into the morass

With writhing screeches

The bird deeply stuck in it

Has sticky mud pasted on its eyes, nose and neck

Nibbling and swallowing life

Drops of blood ring out of the heart of earth 

Falling and falling

Falling on and on. Bump---

The forehead thumped against something hard

The large root of the old pagoda tree grasps its head

Falling on and on along the branch

The bird head rising from the African continent

Swayed by the wind, aphids sticking on the tree’s body

Are falling one by one from its head to its feet

Falling on and on along the branch

Then the white cloud

Afterwards the sun

And subsequently the sky

And finally, the key to the heaven

Bio of the Author:

    Hong Junzhi is a Chinese and Korean poet, translator, critic and publisher. He was born in 1966 in China and now lives in New York. He has published more than 80 books such as "Conspiracy at the End of the World", "Thousand Years Promise" and etc. He also translated books such as "Chinese Modern Poetry Collection" (Chinese poetry collection) and "Chinese Contemporary Poetry Collection". He has won several prizes home and abroad. His poems have been translated into English, German and Japanese. Now he is the director of the US magazine “International Poetry Forum” and NY New Century Press.

Click to read the Chinese version