POETRY BY YUAN HONGRI
(Translated by Yuanbing Zhang)

Yuan Hongri (left) and Yuanbing Zhang (right)

Yuan Hongri (born 1962) is a renowned Chinese mystic, poet, and philosopher. His work has been published in the UK, USA, India, New Zealand, Canada, and Nigeria; his poems have appeared in Poet’s Espresso Review, Orbis, Tipton Poetry Journal, Harbinger Asylum, The Stray Branch, Pinyon Review, Taj Mahal Review, Madswirl, Shot Glass Journal, Amethyst Review, The Poetry Village, and other ezines, anthologies, and journals. His best known works are “Platinum City” and “Golden Giant.” His works explore themes of prehistoric and future civilizations.

Yuanbing Zhang (b. 1974), is Mr. Yuan Hongri’s assistant and translator. He himself is a Chinese poet and translator, and works in a Middle School, Yanzhou District, Jining City, Shandong Province in China.

THE KING OF GIANTS IN PREHISTORIC KINGDOM

When you are not any more fresh fragrant red apple but faithful pure ruby,
you will see the back of  time, the incredible kingdom of the sweet light.
the palace of stars in which the soul lives and the golden tree in the garden of heaven.
The ulterior you will be a teenager—the king of giants in prehistoric kingdom.

GIANT’S POEM

The body is just a dress of your soul and the world is a picture of time.
You can’t find yourself even you go all over the world,
because the temple of the soul is in a garden beyond time.
Those smiles of the prehistoric giants is in a bright mirror of the quiet spirit
and the interstellar words are the giant’s poem.

THE NEST OF TIME

When the lightning of heaven spark-over the head of the night
and make the earth transparent, like the honey of gold,
The angel's song is like the dance of the swarm
and illuminate the nest of time—the giant labyrinth of stars;
The golden car of dragon and Phoenix will carry the mountains of prehistoric gods
and the giant ship of platinum is suddenly like a outer paradise of the interstellar giants.

DON’T FORGET THE OTHER YOU

Don’t forget the other you,
those numerous yous, either in the body or outer space,
those sweet smiles and the diamond flowers that never wither,
that make boundless years on earth turn into a snippet of bird song.
Yes, the crows of a heavenly Phoenix.
Those sweet lightnings hit you,
let you suddenly wake up and see Gold Heaven is with you.
And your body is the golden body of giants,
and makes all time become sweet.

THE SOVEREIGN GODS WERE ALL MY OWN

I’m not Wukong and I don’t want to be the Celestial Ruler Supreme God,
but I want to be myself in the beginning.
There was no the heaven and earth at that time and the universe was the paradise of the soul，
in which were full bloom a great many flowers from paradise in the galaxy.
Neither I knew what was the up and down, east and west, nor gentle and simple, both parties.
I was both a teenager and an old man,
the great many numbers of mine had a great many kingdoms, the sovereign gods were all my own.