Poem
Bai Hua
Wheat In Memory of Haizi
Wheat, as I stand here before youI let my aching hands hang down by my sides
Wheat, with my Mao badge pinned over my heart
I ask you to desist from your mad growth!
Wheat! Wheat! Wheat!
There will be bloodshed in the North account of this
See for yourself: from Anhui province to my hands
And then all the way to China’s core
A grain of spirit is transmitted at lightning speed
Who gave the order to begin the hunger strike?
Wheat! Wheat! Wheat!
A tear falls and strikes the crown of Starvation’s head
You lead the hunger strike into its 168th hour
Wheat. Our wheat
Ah, wheat, wheat of Mother Earth
In the vast sky stars shine brightly
The South weeps within bodies of flesh
Please announce the next move, wheat! The next move!
The next move can only be Sacrifice
The next move can never be Feast
© Translation: 2008, Simon Patton
Haizi was the pen-name of Cha Haisheng, a contemporary poet. He was born in Anhui in 1964 and, after a brief but prolific literary career, committed suicide in March 1989. The epigram is from Mao Zedong\'s poem \'Shaoshan Revisted\' [Dao Shaoshan] which was written in 1959.
＜麥子：紀念海子＞
＜麥子：紀念海子＞
麥子，我面對你 我垂下疼痛的雙手
麥子，我左胸的一枚像章
我請求你停止瘋長！
麥子！麥子！麥子！
北方就要因此而流血
看吧，從安徽直到我手裏
直到祖國的中心
一粒精神正飛速傳遞
是誰發出絕食的命令
麥子！麥子！麥子！
一滴淚打在飢餓的頭頂
你率領絕食進入第168個小時
麥子，我們的麥子
啊，麥子，大地的麥子！
長空星辰照耀
南方在肉體中哭泣
請宣告吧！麥子，下一步，下一步！
下一步就是犧牲
下一步不是宴席
© 2008, Bai Hua
Publisher: First published on PIW,
Publisher: First published on PIW,
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Poems of Bai Hua
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Wheat In Memory of Haizi
Wheat, as I stand here before youI let my aching hands hang down by my sides
Wheat, with my Mao badge pinned over my heart
I ask you to desist from your mad growth!
Wheat! Wheat! Wheat!
There will be bloodshed in the North account of this
See for yourself: from Anhui province to my hands
And then all the way to China’s core
A grain of spirit is transmitted at lightning speed
Who gave the order to begin the hunger strike?
Wheat! Wheat! Wheat!
A tear falls and strikes the crown of Starvation’s head
You lead the hunger strike into its 168th hour
Wheat. Our wheat
Ah, wheat, wheat of Mother Earth
In the vast sky stars shine brightly
The South weeps within bodies of flesh
Please announce the next move, wheat! The next move!
The next move can only be Sacrifice
The next move can never be Feast
© 2008, Simon Patton
Wheat In Memory of Haizi
Wheat, as I stand here before youI let my aching hands hang down by my sides
Wheat, with my Mao badge pinned over my heart
I ask you to desist from your mad growth!
Wheat! Wheat! Wheat!
There will be bloodshed in the North account of this
See for yourself: from Anhui province to my hands
And then all the way to China’s core
A grain of spirit is transmitted at lightning speed
Who gave the order to begin the hunger strike?
Wheat! Wheat! Wheat!
A tear falls and strikes the crown of Starvation’s head
You lead the hunger strike into its 168th hour
Wheat. Our wheat
Ah, wheat, wheat of Mother Earth
In the vast sky stars shine brightly
The South weeps within bodies of flesh
Please announce the next move, wheat! The next move!
The next move can only be Sacrifice
The next move can never be Feast
© 2008, Simon Patton
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