Poem
Fang Xianhai
The birds are dead now
I like reading books of poemson my travels
and in places where people pile up
once
on a bus
I had an unhappy poetry reading experience
because poetry
is written in lines
the people round me thought
I had got my hands on some
weird gobbledegook
to turn their looks of astonishment
back to a dullness so like that of reality
I had no choice but to close the book
and any poems that had spread their wings
© Translation: 2009, Simon Patton and Guan Zhen
THE BIRDS ARE DEAD NOW
© 2007, Fang Xianhai
Poems
Poems of Fang Xianhai
Close
The birds are dead now
I like reading books of poemson my travels
and in places where people pile up
once
on a bus
I had an unhappy poetry reading experience
because poetry
is written in lines
the people round me thought
I had got my hands on some
weird gobbledegook
to turn their looks of astonishment
back to a dullness so like that of reality
I had no choice but to close the book
and any poems that had spread their wings
© 2009, Simon Patton and Guan Zhen
The birds are dead now
I like reading books of poemson my travels
and in places where people pile up
once
on a bus
I had an unhappy poetry reading experience
because poetry
is written in lines
the people round me thought
I had got my hands on some
weird gobbledegook
to turn their looks of astonishment
back to a dullness so like that of reality
I had no choice but to close the book
and any poems that had spread their wings
© 2009, Simon Patton and Guan Zhen
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