Tonight, symbols take us
The Moon is an anemic face circling
a mistake we call
time
Death, a doctor standing by the bed we call bed
Heartless feelings
circle
frightened feelings we call the feelings of the frightened
On my iron porch, Moonlight coughs
gently into a void
which coughs up
a suggestion of a seeable exile...
Duo Duo (1951- ), is a Chinese poet, and laureate of the 2010 Neustadt International Literature Prize from Oklahoma University.
Katie Farris is the author of boysgirls, as well as a co-translator of books of poetry from the French and Russian. Her translations and original work have been published in literary journals including Virginia Quarterly Review, Triquarterly, Hayden’s Ferry. She received her MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University. She currently teaches at San Diego State University.