Peiying Christine Chen columnist of the newspaper ‘Mandarin Page’ New Zealand; ‘The Best Foreign Author 2023’ — an Italian Literature Award of the 30th ‘Ossi Di Seppia’; the first place winner of the 2nd ‘Literary Asia’ (Chinese language) International Poetry Competition. In 2022, she participated in the organization and publication of Sydney’s International Poetry Festival in Australia and received a ‘Special Contribution Award’. Twice winner of ‘New Zealand Literature Award’ (Chinese Literature) in 2018 and 2019. In 2023, she was assigned as the coordinator for World Poetry Movement Oceania. In 2023 she was interviewed by a state-owned magazine ‘Kazakh Literature” and published to introduce her experience and efforts in translating and promoting the Central Asia literature.She serves as a committee member of New Zealand Chinese Writers Association. Her latest poems were published in ‘China Language’ (Taiwan China 2023).
A CITY, A PERSON
Ghost blows out the lanterns,
God lights them up
Holding high the torch,
someone approached with brisk strides
Walking through ruins, entering a fallen city Alleyways deep and endless
Reaching out, fingertips touch his collar,
the air filled with his breath
Mottled and elusive, embraced by light and shadow, my body soaring
Candle melting drop by drop
A city, emerging across the sky
Like a rising moon over the sea,
a lustrous oval
Tides rolling in, waves crashing
On the ancient clock tower,
faint shadows of people
Some raising their cups to invite the moon,
some softly singing,
some dancing with shadows
They’ve all come!
Dang, dang, dang, the twelve o’clock chime rings
Hands of hour, minute and second all converged
The carriage instantly raced in the deep pupils
The boiling seawater, restored
- China -