Anne Kellas #4 responding to a line “The snow is forsaken by its whiteness” in Cui Yuwei’s poem #7

Anne Kellas #4 responding to a line “The snow is forsaken by its whiteness”
in Cui Yuwei’s poem #7 – A Chinese Poem in the English Translation: 'A Shovel', written by Ma Fei
at
https://conversationinpoetry.blogspot.com.au/2018/03/cui-yuwei-7-chinese-poem-in-english.html


Before the snow
is forsaken by its whiteness:
breath.

Something
without a soul
touches air, touches metal.

Before the snow is forsaken by its whiteness:
birdwing turned to metal
clatters

I cannot breathe
in my snow-casing.
or see the metal birds fly before the snow.

Forsaken by its whiteness
a trail of footprints
leads both forward and back.

Time is stuck at two o’clock.
Snow on a metal shovel.
A sunless space opens up between us.