Malak Mattar, Untitled (detail), 2024, charcoal on paper
Translated from the Chinese by Ye Chun
The mirror is a bowl
on the table
My face
is the potato in the bowl
Growing out of the field
these warm bones
Hai Zi (1964-1989) is one of the most influential contemporary Chinese poets. Between 1984 and 1989, he wrote approximately 200 poems and several epics. He committed suicide in March 1989. His books published posthumously in China include Earth (1990), Poems of Hai Zi (1995), and The Complete Works of Hai Zi (1997).
Ye Chun is the author of one book of poetry, Travel over Water (The Bitter Oleander Press, 2005). (6/2007)
Hai Zi
Hai Zi (1964–1989) is one of the most influential contemporary Chinese poets. Between 1984 and 1989, he wrote approximately 200 poems and several epics. He died of suicide in March 1989. His books published posthumously in China include Earth (1990), Poems of Hai Zi (1995), and The Complete Works of Hai Zi.
Ye Chun
Ye Chun is the author of one book of poetry, Travel over Water (The Bitter Oleander Press, 2005). (updated 6/2007)
AGNI has published the following translations:
Self Portrait by Hai Zi
Tibet by Hai Zi