Gu Cheng's "Rising early" 顧城之《早起》

早起 煮玉米的水應當乾淨 用光推住牆壁       用一滴雨 把影子慢慢倒進霧裏 一個放棺材的地方濕了 第一個上帝是蠟燭做的 第一個謎，是自已 木門隆隆嚮著 ，暗藍暗藍的空氣 我在認真對待         顧城   1984 六月

Rising Early The water for boiling maize ought to be clean Have to push against the wall with light With a drop of water The shadow is slowly poured into the mist A spot for placing the coffin has gone wet The first God is made of candle wax The first riddle, it's my self The wooden door is rumbling, dullish dullish blue air I am facing it seriously Gu Cheng   June 1984 June(tr. El Zorro)

This is a poem I like. In this poem, rising early in the morning whilst boiling some maize, probably the sullied water in the boiling pan sparked a train of thoughts in the poet's mind: that of life and how it should be dealt with. The water of life ought to be clean. It could be cleaned only with light. But it was foggy. The Christian symbolism is obvious: fire, food, water, light, life, death. The shadow of death crossed his mind and he cried, turning his world all misty. In his mind's eyes, he saw a coffin. It' s wet, probably with tears. But the Christian God probably didn't help because it was only an entity "created" by candle wax of the faithfuls. Life remains a mystery, a puzzle. He hears the steps of death approaching. The door of life was closing in on him. He had to deal with it.