Chinese Poet XiuShi’s Poem

“Loneliness”

by XiuShi（China HK）

I wade through the surging torrents of the city, leaving behind me lights and cacophonies of this world

And an empty house that as night falls darkens into a prison cell of time

In the dark lurks a beast awaiting, in the corner of the wall

I know it’s there, quiet as a shadow, speaking only monosyllabic words

I rarely sing the long rain or the soothing breeze of spring, noting instead my own decay

Throwing into question all that I see and encounter, my thoughts convoluted into poetry

And yet my body slowly drains empty, until there’s space for the beast to settle comfortably in

And my loneliness to acquire warmth, like a lamp in the surrounding darkness

I shall return when life fulfills the requirements of a utopian world

When leaves fall like rain, amidst thick and dense colors of autumn

Behind those doors that I tap on, time draws on as usual

The beast is still there, uttering monosyllabic words: je t’aime

（Translated by Dr. Yanwing Leung）

About: Poet Xiushi(秀实), President of Hong Kong Poetry Association. His poem collections are Jieshi School and Lonely as my Moggy, commentary collections are Debate for Poetry and Drawing Dragons for Deer etc. And compiled Yoyo Lu Ming – My 108 Friends’ Excellent Poetry Dictionary, Selected Versions of Poetry Wind over Songtao and Mailang — Selection of Love Poems in Taiwan and Hong Kong etc.