Jacky Yuen
trans. by Nick Admussen
DREAMWALKERS
I see death in a dream, I see a war
In a dream I see a fly from a crack in the era’s crevasse
fly into an iron-gray building, dream the glow of memory
illuminating language, in my dream I see death surrounded
Each person shares the weight of the whole
I also dream of advancing and hesitating, stones
spraying black smoke at the ocean, I dream of feeble, aging wolves
searching for prey to keep living
I see the dark night in a dream, on the street everyone wears raincoats
They stand scattered, their heads lowered, breathing silently
but I don’t know where language is hiding
the characters disappear the moment they’re written on the pillars and walls
Who will cry out, who will leap
I dream all hope is here
Here: where it falls, flowers blossom
letting life and death meet in dream
Let us dream the dreams of others
like fireflies converging on the river of roof tiles
We have nothing to our name we have removed the last mask
singing a song for the dark nights of Hong Kong
Jacky Yuen (阮文略) obtained his PhD in biochemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and he currently teaches biology at a local high school. He has published four poetry collections, including A Fox Looking Back.
Nick Admussen is an associate professor of Chinese literature at Cornell University.