Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wang Ping: Jerusalem, Jerusalem
At the recommendation of Sam Hamill, I've been reading the poet Wang Ping this morning. Highly recommended. Here's an excerpt from her poem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem:
For the false desire and fate,
For tears turned into flame and cries stifled
in smoke, dip the apple in honey.
Dip hatred, blood, dip hope and despair,
dip remorse hidden in the gut,
the laughing cry from every child's lips.
For Isabel and Nava, for every lost soul
to resettle in the cradle of roots,
dip Bethlehem, dip Jerusalem,
dip bombs, tanks, check points,
dip the world ploughed with sorrow
in the sea of honey.
Go to Wang Ping's homepage: http://www.macalester.edu/~ping/ and click on the title Jerusalem, Jerusalem to read the full poem. A form that mixes poetry and prose, many voices and timeframes. Almost collage-like.
For the false desire and fate,
For tears turned into flame and cries stifled
in smoke, dip the apple in honey.
Dip hatred, blood, dip hope and despair,
dip remorse hidden in the gut,
the laughing cry from every child's lips.
For Isabel and Nava, for every lost soul
to resettle in the cradle of roots,
dip Bethlehem, dip Jerusalem,
dip bombs, tanks, check points,
dip the world ploughed with sorrow
in the sea of honey.
Go to Wang Ping's homepage: http://www.macalester.edu/~ping/ and click on the title Jerusalem, Jerusalem to read the full poem. A form that mixes poetry and prose, many voices and timeframes. Almost collage-like.
