He Zhaolun – If Suddenly Met

Profile He Zhaolun LE Poetry & Writing August 2018

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If Suddenly Met, poems by Chinese poet He Zhaolun

He Zhaolun (born 1970) is an outstanding contemporary Chinese poet. Since 1988 he has been writing poetry, which has been published in numerous newspapers and magazines in China and elsewhere. Zhaolun has published 3 Sangshaws, edited one Sangshaw, and has been awarded the first Dragon Culture Gold Award instituted by Yan Huang Culture research Institute. He lives in Jinzhou Liaoning Province, China. He believes that the coming together of poets across the world will create love and healing for all.


When Mother Couldn’t Remember Love

When mother couldn’t remember love,
Father pressed his chest, coughing day and night,
Smoking a cigarette.

The setting sun was fading out,
“Lover thinner than daisy flower”, feeling of love.
Mother couldn’t remember more,
Cigarette bag dangling from father’s lips, without words—

Chewing the potherb, bitter taste of youth,
Wheat fragrance, sucking up a rich past.

When mother couldn’t remember love,
She thought the matter over,
Always felt that it was better to labor,
Soil is more peaceful than gold and silver,
She said, love is like a thimble,
Who endures pains, who is warmer.

Mother really couldn’t remember love,
And father couldn’t recall the past.
They had to stay in front of each other,
A life living together.
From time to time they pressed their chests—
Constantly coughing together.


If Suddenly Met

Remembering mother, if suddenly met,
Cuckoo chirping three times, tomb grass three inches taller—

Qingming rain, drizzling,
Wheat, growing fast.
There must be some tears to break stars,
Falling down in drops.

If suddenly met,
I don’t want to say the country words.

As mother heard,
She would hide, crying in the earth.


当母亲想不起爱情

当母亲想不起爱情
父亲除了捂着胸口不停地咳喘
就是大口大口的旱烟

夕阳慢慢变老
陪走“人比黄花瘦”的情恋
母亲想不起来多少
父亲叼着旱烟,也是无从语焉——

嚼野菜嚼不出青春的味道
咂麦香咂不出浓郁的往事

当母亲想不起爱情
便琢磨来琢磨去
总觉得能攒够亲如骨肉的一把土
远比攒足金银细软还要心安
她说,爱情好比一只顶针
忍住疼痛就是温暖

母亲想不起爱情了
父亲再也想不起来往事
他们只好厮守着眼前
乱糟糟的这辈子
时不时地捂着胸口——
不停地咳喘


恍如隔世

再想起母亲就恍如隔世
布谷叫过三声,她额头的草长了三寸——

清明的雨心细
预料麦香来临之前
肯定有一些泪水扯断满天星斗的扣子
“哗啦啦”坠落

恍如隔世
我不想说地道的乡下话

母亲听见了
她会躲在泥土里哭


© He Zhaolun