SPRING SLUMBER by Ma Hua, trans. Winnie Zeng
At night, this year’s snow melts into a spring, knocks at the wooden door.
Pi li pa la, a sound more wearing than the clamor of cattle and horses
during the day. I dream that the tattered wooden door
turns out to be myself, knocked round and round
by transparent snow, by the crescent moon.
Winnie Zeng writes and translates from Zhejiang, China. Her translation of Ma Yan’s poetry has been a finalist for the Anne Frydman Translation Prize and shortlisted for the Gabo Prize in Literary Translation. Other poetry and translation can be found in Poetry Northwest, the Offing, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere.
