by Christina Shu (’24)
The Yangzhe River
I cannot speak, but this doesn’t mean that
I don’t remember.
Every water flow and river loss of mine
Curls into history in time.
Everything happened on this territory,
I am a witness.
Others see me as their ancestor,
Their savior.
On December 13th, 1937,
I failed.
I was exploited as a weapon
Targeting my own people.
My shoulder is wide.
Even at my lower reaches
In Nanking,
Too fathomless to cross.
The foreign intruders wiped out
Every possible tool
To sail across me,
The third longest river
In the world.
The civilians were trapped.
For them,
It was either to be devoured
By me,
Or to be strafed
By the intruders.
A choice between deaths without
A right answer.
Corpses were dumped
Like trash
On my banks.
Cold bodies with torn-cotton clothing
Covered
With blood and dirt
Piling. Crossing.
Bodies with no names. Left
To be washed away by my turbid waves.
My body was running in blood that day.
“Finding the Origin” A Poem in Translation
This cave was once 先人洞中忆北魏，
—–Dedicated to the memory of
—–The Northern Wei Dynasty.
Granite fragments and dark ashes 暗石黑灰道根源
—–Unveil the story of
—–Our ancestors’ origins.
Stepping on the rocky trail, 白桦傍路追泉眼
———Followed by white butterflies,
————————While tracing the spring’s eye, 古木栈道素蝶伴。
—————————————-Passing the white birch trees.
There are verdant grasses 嫩草碎石夹缝生
————–Pushing up through cracks
—————————–Between paved stones.
The stream ripples and sparkles 皎云透光散溪涧。
—–When sunshine penetrates
—–The luminous cloud.
We make a detour to have a full 绕路探寻观古迹
————–View of this historical area,
————————–While joking about how a treacherous 无奈笑谈商人奸。
—————————————Merchant might turn this place into
——————————————————–A natural spring water factory.
Author Commentary: “The Yangtze River” is a mask poem telling a historical event from the perspective of the Yangtze River. The poem shows a complexity of relationship between nature and human, nature as a savior, a murderer but also a witness of human history.
“Finding the Origin” is a my English translation of my Chinese poem “寻根”, which I originally wrote in the classical Chinse poetic form – seven-character rhymed poem. It is a poem about finding one’s origin through nature and reflecting about the over exploitation of nature done by human.
Christina Shu (’24) is currently a MAPH student focusing on bilingual poetry writing, translating, and studying. She was born in Beijing, China, and she currently lives in Toronto, Canada.