you won’t write what’s recorded in written history?
and you believe you’ll only focus on things
completely forgotten?
yeh, I suppose
a thread of sun, hang
ing on an eyelash
a word that came out
of a rice-filled
mouth
all the drops of rain
that rushed into the ear
in that, forgotten, instant
everything born
the second
they die
Ouyang Yu writes in English and Chinese and to date has published 100 books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, literary criticism and literary translation in both languages. His website is www.otherlandpublishing.com.