Ye Ling is a poet, writer, translator, and artist based in Shanghai. When it comes to writing and creating art, she is inspired by current global issues and in particular by social change in China. 

 

秋 | Fall

 

这个秋天

比逝去的夏天

更令人窒息

夜里微雨 低吟不绝

白日里残风不断

每一片

被风雨打落的

梧桐树叶上

都暗藏着一个

坚定的名字

那些以自由之名

而奔走街头的平民

和为了同样的理由

而被莫名失踪的记者

无论机器怎么碾压

都难以洗刷的黑暗

从角落与暗沟里

大摇大摆地

走上了

街头

 

This fall has been

less bearable

than the passing summer

Light rain weeping at night

Broken winds in the day

Upon every sycamore leaf beaten

to the ground

by wind and rain

a firm name hidden

Those who protest in the streets

In the name of freedom

and the missing reporters taken

for the exact same reason

The darkness that

cannot be crushed away

However hard the tractor rolls

Swaggering its way

from the blind ditches

onto the streets