Translated by Michelle Yeh
Sunset, grey rain and railroad tracks blockaded by the river

power lines gather concentrated daylight, clouds grow dim

till they are swallowed by boundless silence

as if they had sunk into a counterfeit continent 
Someone meditates while jogging on the other side

maintaining the standard for an outsider’s sense of shame

afterwards, an even longer negotiation

like a golden retriever that has gone missing lifting his hind leg

	under the night sky
A few rainbow Mobikesdrive out of the abandoned lumber

     processing plant

drawing near from a distance, carrying on their backs a docile

     economy on the wing

After the rain the torrent in the river gains speed

leaving behind a shared rhythm and chemistry in vain 
A fisherman takes out a searchlight from his vest and aims resolutely

Under the arch bridge, a startled white heron draws in an

     instant a parabolic arc of urgency in the sky

His pregnant wife leans on the railing and gazes down 
at the feast in the fish basket; barefooted children

holding toxic, sick fish in their hands vie to take pictures

On the triangular island, lovers steal kisses in the dark

The hurried tangling of limbs looks like a graceless Tango 
The night curtain is filthy and alarming

Raindrops wash the calcium-deficient city and its clustered buildings

A green-coated train touches the track exposed by earth

its rumbling ploughs open a tune of hidden rests



 The Buji River, a tributary of the Shenzhen River, runs through Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, one of the most

prosperous cities in China. Mobike is the station-less shared bicycle system in China. ↩