Winter Market Town
The three-wheeler carries its load of tofu
through the snow as it gets whiter
trailing its fitful tail of gasoline scent
belaboured by cost
The newspapers die before they are born
The ground darkens quickly, no passage
needed. Crowds of snowflakes
expire into the reality of the earth
while letters on paper expire a day at a time
despite already being dead
The three-wheeler carries its load of tofu
through the snow as it gets later
till a workshop door that looks like a factory's
booms twice
opening, a ragged breath withheld
then closing, shutting the streetlight's glow
in winter
About the translators
Austin Woerner is a Creative Fellow in Chinese-English literary translation at the University of Leeds.
Zheng Wanqi is an MA student currently enrolled in the English Literature course at the School of English, University of Leeds.