Silent Bricks - Zhou Qingrong / 周庆荣

Zhou Qingrong / 周庆荣






Silent Bricks

There will come such a day.
One brick after another, lies under the buildings. They will decide everything.
Trails of moss. They are not just time ageing.
Ants, or some other vermin, visit these silent bricks. They may climb to a certain height,
but the height never comes into thei rvision.
There will come a day when these bricks will determine the shape of the buildings.
Magnificent palaces or humble huts, it’s for these bricks to decide.
What pressure does the superstructure exert?
Bricks keep silent, withstanding the pressure in solitariness. They are tough bones.
They just do not say a word, let alone words of self-importance.
They live their lives steadily, one brick next to another. They are intent on logic, but not emotion.
The wind strikes against the wall, yet the bricks remain silent. The wind blows and blows,
and sounds like voices of history.




沉默的砖头

会有这么一天的。
一块一块的砖头，在建筑的下面，它们来决定一切。
苔迹，不只是岁月的陈旧。
蚂蚁，或别的虫豸，访问着这些沉默的砖，它们或许
爬出一个高度，它们没有意识到墙也是高度。
有一天，这些砖头会决定建筑的形状。
富丽堂皇的宫殿或不起眼的茅舍，这些砖头说了算。
上层建筑是怎样的重量？
沉默的砖头，寂寞地负重。它们是一根又一根坚硬的骨头。
它们就是不说话，更不说过头的话。
它们踏踏实实地过着日子，一块砖挨着另一块砖，
它们不抒情，它们讲逻辑。
风撞着墙，砖无言。风声吹久了，便像是历史的声音。



*



Chinese History in numbers

Five thousand years, two thousand years of legend, and three
thousand years of non-fiction.
Ten thousand harvests of crops. How many people and livestock have been fed?
Roosters crowed in the dawn of eighteen million and twenty-five thousand days.
To whom did dogs bark twenty thousand seasons?
One thousand years of wars were fought for separation, and another thousand
years for reunion. In one thousand years, there were seemingly separation
and reunion. In the reluctant temples of two thousand years, different flags
were waving, and different scriptures were chanted. Even if there were
one thousand full years, five hundred of them were taken by the dark nights.
In the five hundred years of bright daylight, how many people were grieved
by undocumented rainy days?
How many mysterious documents were sealed up in the dark nights of solid
five hundred years? How many heroes were buried under the earth, how many
monuments were erected and where were they? The sun pierced through t
he clouds and how many monuments stand outside the territory of nine million
and six hundred thousand square kilometers?
I also would like to figure out how many days were reserved for dreams in the past
five thousand years and how many of them were days of justice and happiness.
The numbers are certain. Five thousand years of endurance, five thousand years
of living, five thousand years of greatness and degradation, and five thousand
years of hope.
Love for five thousand years and hate for five thousand years. Spontaneity for the
land for five thousand years. Violence, suffering, villains holding sway, and I cease
to numerate. Human heart transcends five thousand years.




数字中国史

五千年，两千年的传说，三千年的纪实。
一万茬庄稼，养活过多少人和牲畜？
鸡啼鸣在一千八百零二万五千个黎明，犬对什么人狂吠过
两万个季节？
一千年的战争为了分开，一千年的战争再为了统一。
一千年里似分又似合，两千年勉强的庙宇下，不同的旗帜
挥舞，各自念经。就算一千年严丝合缝，也被黑夜占用
五百年。那五百年的光明的白昼，未被记载的阴雨天
伤害了多少人的心？
五百年完整的黑夜，封存多少谜一样的档案？多少英雄埋在
地下，岁月为他们竖碑多少竖在何处？阳光透过云层，
有多少碑在九百六十万平方公里之外？
我还想统计的是，五千年里，多少岁月留给梦想？多少时光
属于公平正义与幸福？
能确定的数字：忍耐有五千年，生活有五千年，伟大和卑鄙
有五千年，希望也有五千年。
爱，五千年，恨，五千年。对土地的情不自禁有五千年，暴力
和苦难以及小人得志，我不再计算。人心，超越五千年。



***



Zhou Qingrong, born in Xiangshui, Jiangsu Province in 1963, began writing poems in 1984. He has published several collections of prose poems, including Love Is a Moon Tree, Butterflies Unable to Fly Away, Scenic Years, Selected Prose Poems of Zhou Qingrong, Us (Chi¬nese-English bilingual deluxe edition), Man of Ideals, Prophecy, and A Man of Vision.
Mr. Zhou is a member of China Writers Association. He was one of the founders of the We—Beitucheng Prose Poems, a writers’ group. He is presently chief editor of Grand Poetry, honorary editor-in-chief of Stars-Prose Poetry, editorial board member of Poetic Tide, adjunct re¬search fellow of the research center for Chinese poems of Capital Nor¬mal University, and research fellow of the research center for Chinese prose poetry of Huzhou University.
In 2014, Zhou won the gold prize granted by Poetic Tide, and has got many other such honors as those in the Fourth Chinese Poetry Contest sponsored by Fangcao, in the Second Prose Poetry Contest by Stars, and the Seventh Bingxin Prose Award.


周庆荣，笔名老风。先后毕业于苏州大学和北京大学，中国作家协会会员、中国诗歌学会第四届理事会常务理事、首都师范大学中国诗歌研究中心兼职研究员、“我们——北土城散文诗群” 主要发起人。《大诗歌》主编、《星星·散文诗》名誉主编。出版的作品有:《爱是一棵月亮树》（1990 年）、《飞不走的蝴蝶》（1992 年）、《爱是一棵月亮树》（合集，2000 年）、《风景般的岁月》（2004 年）、《周庆荣散文诗选》（2006 年）、《我们》（2010 年）、《有理想的人》（2011 年）、《预言》（2014 年）、《有远方的人》（2014 年）、《有温度的人》（2017 年）、《执灯而立》（2021 年）。另有译著《西方当代美术》《帕金森第三定律》《敖德萨秘密文件》等。曾获多种诗歌奖项。