Wang Feng | A New Chapter

Hold onto this flame, this sorrow. Hold onto this faint life. Love has been loved to the extreme, hatred has been hated to the bone. Love was once fierce, hatred was deeply rooted.

Hold onto it, it's a heart, a lingering, intimate heart, a tender and resilient heart, a heart wounded by love and hate.

Hold onto it, is it a leaf? Is it a leaf dancing in the wind? You sway, you tremble. Hold onto it, is it a flower? Is it a flower of spring? You bloom, you unfold. Amidst the mud and rain, you also breathe, you also gasp, you also moan.

Hold onto it, you are the cradle of dawn, the first piercing cry of a newborn. Hold onto it, you are the creak of dusk, you close the coffin, your bones also turn and twist.

Hold onto it, the lament of the mountains and rivers, the mournful sound of the horn. My love, please remove the tattered remnants of your battles and start anew.

Don't despair due to an uncertain future, don't abandon yourself because of the darkness.

My flame ignites in your lips, your tears splash in my eyes.

Hold onto it, darkness is fleeting. Hold onto darkness, and you hold the light.

I pray the candle doesn't go out.

I pray for the blessings of heaven upon all beings.

I pray for the dismantling of the walls of separation.

I pray love may rest safely in my palm,

My body radiates a warm, compassionate light.

I pray for the intertwining of bone and flesh, the embrace of mountains and rivers,

I pray that darkness shall settle into dust on the earth.

Wang Feng: Sixty-after, Jiangxi Lead Mountain native, member of the Jiangxi Writers Association, member of the China Writers Association.