Cela Xie
假花 Artificial Flowers
镜 I made myself up again
花 this morning in the mirror,
零 and sighed over the landscape
叶 the light from the side window
散 revealed in my new face:
地 the ripples of infection.
假 I walked in summer by the mall
花 and heard the sibilant murmur
永 of a garden hanging like a man
久 on the high wall; I searched for death,
盛 paleness, tears like lace in the leaves,
丽 proof they were living and real.
Translation:
假花
镜花零叶散地 :
假花永久盛丽.
False Flowers
In the mirror, the leaves of the flowers scatter on the ground.
False flowers are forever brilliant.
Bio
Cela Xie is a poet of twenty-five years who has accomplished nothing in particular, except writing for almost two decades. In that time, he has written one thousand, three hundred and seventy-eight poems, forty-three short stories, and one draft of a memoir. He is currently pursuing an MFA at North Carolina State University. His poetry has been published by The Pierian and poetryfest, and a collection of twelve poems is forthcoming from betweenthehighway press in December 2024.