Original Poem: <> (Xi'an Chronicle)
The Decaying Old Capital
The Earth Uprooted
Dreams with Slanted Eyes
One after another Emerging
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Parched Yellow Earth
Mixed with Sea Breeze
No Longer Loose Sand
Taking on a Hint of Form
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Yellow Earth Like a Shortbread
Emaciated and Shriveled
Trees Depleting Their Water
Thriving Then Declining into Decay
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Newly Born as Grain and Wheat
Constructing High Walls
Breaking Them into Long Spears
Sleeping Like a Coffin
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Loosening to Forming a Slab
Iron Horses Upsetting
Burglars Emerging in Shadowy Figures
Laying a New Foundation
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The Wind in Longxi Like a Blade
Autumn Meat Carved
Sometimes Head or Limb Lost
Sometimes Dying from Blood Loss
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The Heart of Heaven and Earth
Drinking the Blood of All Nations
Increasing in the Uprooting
Until Decay and Rupture
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The Capital Views on the Ground
Tombs in the Underworld
Life and Death Intertwined
Coming and Going Along the Field Boundaries
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Nurturing Giants
Waiting to Send Them to Their Graves
Like the Remains of Mountains
For Me, It's Like a Labyrinth
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Layer upon Layer Unfolding
All Vivid with Color
Generations of Lost Souls
Faces Entirely Different
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Hunter Groups Competing for Dominance
Small Dogs Gnawing
The So-Called Masters
Imprisoned Servants
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The Butcher Leaning on His Knife
Waiting for Green Grass to Spread
Cutting a Generation of Ghosts
Carving Names on an Edict Stone
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Crimson Robes Competing for Beauty
A Torrent of Boiling Blood
Seeing It Like the Sea and Fire
Self-Immolating for Sacrifice
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Poems Long and Short Written on Paper
Heaven and Earth Are Without Compassion
Let Me Become Earth and Ashes
Leaving Behind Paw Prints
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Witnessing Countless Rise and Falls
Eyes Aging and Frozen
Hiding Too Much of the Past
The Earth is Parched, Yellow, and Weak
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Storms Rising in My Heart
The Pen Yearning to Speak a Thousand Words
Words Exhausted in Whispers
A Single Thought, A Vast Mountain Range Far Away