On Low Ground, Lower Ground

On Low Ground, Lower Ground

I have been looking at the low ground

the lowest ground, ever

the low ground under the city

the buildings

and the smoke from the kitchen chimneys

seeking a residence on low ground

I have been looking at the low ground

the lowest ground, ever

the low ground under the sunlight

the soil

and the seeds

seeking fruit on low ground...

Long Quan, born in the 1960s, is a Chinese poet based in Jiangxi, China, whose poems, translated by Ouyang Yu, have been published in Westerly, The Age, and Landfall (New Zealand), The Sons of Camus Writers International Journal (Canada), and also included in Breaking New Sky: Contemporary Poetry from China (2013), translated by Ouyang Yu and published by Five Islands Press in Melbourne, Australia. As a member of the Chinese Writers Association, he has published four collections of poetry.