from Chords by Bei Dao

When you fall asleep on the beach
The wind pulls up short at your mouth
Waves stealthily lap nearby
Shaped in soft curves
The dream is all alone
The sea is much too far away

translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin

Declaration: for the martyr Yu Luoke by Bei Dao

Perhaps the last moment is here
I haven’t left a will
Only a pen. . .to my mother
I’m not a hero
In an era without heroes
I just wanted to be a man

The quiet horizon
Separated the ranks of the living from the dead
I had to choose the sky
And would never kneel on the ground
To let executioners look gigantic
So they could block the wind of freedom

Out of starlike bullet holes
A bloody dawn is flowing

from the book The Red Azalea
translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin

for martyrs everywhere