Book Review Wind Crossing Grasses Poems From China's Dragon Rivers

This anthology of modern Chinese poetry affords the reader an opportunity to go on a breathtaking journey along China's Yellow and Yangtze Rivers and across open grasslands. The poetry is deeply rooted in place, the earth. For their people, everything moves with the wind: grasses, trees, rivers and even emotions. It shakes, awakens, and transforms the earth. It carries soil, seeds, life, and death across continents, sculpting loess, deserts, grasslands, and fields. Readers will find poetic inspiration with these words found in the introduction, "That’s what a poet is— A gust of wind, a blade of grass, Tying sky and earth together with words." 

Award-winning and esteemed Chinese and Mongolian poets are featured in this anthology as well as some of the new vibrant generation of Chinese poets. Each poet is represented by their photo, a short bio, and a description of their home region, all anchored by maps and pertinent photos. Poems cover a wide range of subjects, including historical places, nods to ancestral heritage, the everyday routine of life, with reflections on nature and seasonal changes. Each poem has an English and Chinese translation and is a hearflet and lovely tribute to one's homeland.   

Enjoy a seasonal poem by Mo Fei (a Chinese poet included in the anthology) 

Spring Day 

Spring is still far away, so I court spring. Date trees seem taller but bears no fruit So I court the trees 

Clouds float away till nothing remains, so I court clouds. I come to the shore, carrying the sea in my basket 

I court the train, then rain and grapefruit along the way. The grapefruit is not sweet enough, so I court lemons and tangerines 

I court spring. Winter never asks me why I never court grains or vegetables, why I never court kings and queens, but worship orchids and other nightshades between tiles bricks. The fragile roofs still court the wind 

But look at the sun. It never courts anyone, shining on those who curse it, like night courting earth, like me courting horse beans

ALL ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Wang Ping is a poet, writer, photographer, performer, and multimedia artist. Her publications have been translated into multiple languages and include poetry, short stories, novels, cultural studies, and children's stories. Her multimedia exhibitions address global themes of industrialization, the environment, interdependency, and the people. She is the recipient of numerous awards, a professor of English, and the founder of the Kinship of Rivers project.

ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bel Dao Bei Dao is a Chinese poet and writer of fiction who was commonly considered the most influential poet in China during the 1980s; he went into exile in 1989.