Peiying Christine Chen columnist of the newspaper ‘Mandarin Page’ New Zealand; ‘The Best Foreign Author 2023’ — an Italian Literature Award of the 30th ‘Ossi Di Seppia’; the first place winner of the 2nd ‘Literary Asia’ (Chinese language) International Poetry Competition. In 2022, she participated in the organization and publication of Sydney’s International Poetry Festival in Australia and received a ‘Special Contribution Award’. Twice winner of ‘New Zealand Literature Award’ (Chinese Literature) in 2018 and 2019. In 2023, she was assigned as the coordinator for World Poetry Movement Oceania. In 2023 she was interviewed by a state-owned magazine ‘Kazakh Literature” and published to introduce her experience and efforts in translating and promoting the Central Asia literature.She serves as a committee member of New Zealand Chinese Writers Association. Her latest poems were published in ‘China Language’ (Taiwan China 2023).
HUMMING TO AGAPANTHUS
Please depart for now
Allow me see you afar,
like observing the course of the sun
and moon and
The brilliance of the stars
Water leaves ripples,
geese echo when pass
I want to hold onto you,
the tenderness you left the marks
Please keep moving forward,
reaching the fresh days by abondoning the old
Allow the vivid blue stand alone,
apart from red, orange, yellow, green, and teal
Stand alone from the seasonal bells and collective cicada chirping
Time moves forward as a whole: oneness
But, I stay behind, watching you keep turning back the head
You, stand along from your peers
So different from others: with features, with blood and flesh, vivid and tangible
You, twinkling like a star, winking at me
Smile, l reaching out and picking you up
The infinite becomes finite, the abstract turns concrete, in an instant
Holding in my palm , firmly
Oh, you are mine: a thread of tangible blue
You say: yes, l do
Note:
The Agapanthus bloom magnificently in New Zealand around Christmas period with vivid blue. In Greek, its name means “flower of love,” and its language of flowers is “love has arrived.”
ALL WHISPERING
Before a poem becomes a poem
A deer collides
In the last moment when the glass bottle falls
A scream! Butterflies scatter,
white light bursts into flames
Until leaves gracefully lie down
A painting of still life
Before you become yourself
Lake waters stir, bodies undulate with the waves
Thud! A whale descends
The bed of ocean, covered with shimmering light
Until the tide recedes, the moon sinks to the land
The land rising into mountains
Mountain forests nurture, serene
Time tiptoes through, softly and steadily
In the silky robe, pauses, ponders,
and tries to comprehend
Your collar is blue, the world in splendor,
everything softly hums
I hold my breath, listening
To the gentle singing of the spirit
A CITY, A PERSON
Ghost blows out the lanterns,
God lights them up
Holding high the torch,
someone approached with brisk strides
Walking through ruins, entering a fallen city Alleyways deep and endless
Reaching out, fingertips touch his collar,
the air filled with his breath
Mottled and elusive, embraced by light and shadow, my body soaring
Candle melting drop by drop
A city, emerging across the sky
Like a rising moon over the sea,
a lustrous oval
Tides rolling in, waves crashing
On the ancient clock tower,
faint shadows of people
Some raising their cups to invite the moon,
some softly singing,
some dancing with shadows
They’ve all come!
Dang, dang, dang, the twelve o’clock chime rings
Hands of hour, minute and second all converged
The carriage instantly raced in the deep pupils
The boiling seawater, restored
Open my eyes, a bed of moonlight
Stains from candle tears by the pillow, still warm
Body faintly aching
A city, a person, has been here.
Prepared Angela Kosta writer, poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, translator, journalist
