Ma Yongbo
A Cloud
Translated from the Chinese by J.D. Scrimgeour and the Ginling Collective
As I walk down the street
the city descends into a mirror.
A shadow unfolds slowly, the hair cries for help,
and a clamor steps in front of the sun.
In the sky, a cloud with shiny edges hovers
and whirls, helpless as a lamb.
Many must have seen it before me,
but only now does it sink into my eyes.
Like a lamb being slaughtered, the blood spatters,
and it screams, faintly, the edges distinct.
In the silence of the next moment,
I have no thoughts of the future,
no thoughts of these passersby.
I walk down another street
and hear the girls say: Let’s fly.
The wind lifts their skirts.
Crossing the street I lower my head
then look back up—the cloud has disappeared,
the trembling of the lamb
lingering in the clouded eye.
Ma Yongbo was born in 1964. He is a practitioner of Chinese avant-garde poetry, and a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry.
J.D. Scrimgeour leads the translation group, the Ginling Collective. His latest book, Small, Rectangular, Reflected World will appear in 2025.