Poetry Thursday - Vase by Yang Lian

(via)

Vase

a word eradicates the world
a feather
drifts down

and yet, a bird’s nest
in each of its fragments
preserves the whole

Yang Lian, translated by John Cayley (via)


Yang Liang (b.1955) had an education interrupted by the Cultural Revolution (1966-1977). Working in the countryside, he began writing traditional Chinese poetry. Back in Beijing, he became involved with the group of poets writing for 'Today' (Jintian) magazine, becoming one of the founders of the "Misty" school of poetry and skating on controversial thin ice to the point of a warrant being issued for his arrest. He escaped and now has New Zealand citizenship, and has lived in London since 1993.