I Like You, but Seldom Hug You: Ten Poems by Zhou Li
1 min read
I like rain
but am seldom in rain
I like you
but seldom hug you
The lake water outside the window is moving
because there is wind
In my eyes
tears are also moving
There isn’t any wind
When I heard that the Cathédrale Notre-Dame was on fire
it was raining at my place
I am far apart from Paris
Water and fire
are also far apart
The apartment corridor is equipped with
a row of voice-activated lights
Above them it is a layer of glass
I raise my head
continuously walk round
This way
the starry sky won’t go off
I step on withered leaves
They have no bones
but are making sounds like
bones cracking
She is thinking
whether to embroider a flower
on this fine silk
Hesitates for a moment
she gives up
because without this flower
the silk is already very beautiful
Completely frozen yesterday
but today it’s twenty degrees
Going to rain in just a few days
and next week
new cold air is coming again
I keep adjusting
clothes, hat, umbrella
and my worldview...
to adapt to
God’s bad temper
The motherland is in my heart
The Party is in my heart
The leaders are my heart
I can only
move myself out
My motherland is a huge plastic wrap
I am forever an immortal flower inside
Good night, sometimes means
I miss you
Sometimes
just to tell myself
a long night is coming
Author: Zhou Li (周立) is a medical doctor who occasionally writes poetry. He has published three books in China, all of which he subsequently burned. As he puts it, “They are my life. I have the right to decide whether they exist or are destroyed.”
Continue with our interview with Zhou Li ↗︎.