BEI Ling

1959 / Beijing

The Face Also, Has Bruised Dignity

The iron forcefully extended
Is closing in on you
Silence becomes a faraway look
Full of fear, beyond me

In the distance madly lengthened
Seven days and nights meander wearily
Thought, a one-word prayer
I mourn for troops rolling over earth in winter

A blank frame knows tranquility
The face, also, has bruised dignity

Translated by Jin Zhong and William Slaughter
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