Faster Than a Lightning Flash

Abstract

Faster Than a Lightning Flash Huang Lihai (bio) Translated by Ming Di (bio) The river courses like my blood.It's aware of my thirstwhen I'm on the road. Run. I run away from the poverty.The forest is becoming green again.What else has moistened my shirt? Run. The forest flies upMy heart quivers and shakes off its fatigue.My life as short as a lightning flash—before I have time to grieveI'm pushed along. Run. [End Page 41] Huang Lihai Huang Bin 黄斌 was born in Chibi (Red Cliff), in southeastern Hubei province, in 1968. He won first place in the national poetry competition in 1994. His other honors include the ninth Qu Yuan Literary and Art Award. He studied journalism at Wuhan University and now works for the Hubei Daily. Ming Di Ming Di 明迪 is a Chinese poet based in the U.S. She attended Boston College and Boston University, where she taught Chinese. She has published six books of poetry in Chinese along with a collaborative translation, River Merchant's Wife (2012). She co-translated The Book of Cranes by Zang Di (2015) with Neil Aitken, and Empty Chairs: Selected Poems by Liu Xia (2015) with Jennifer Stern, which was a finalist for the 2016 Best Translation Book Award. She edited and co-translated New Cathay: Contemporary Chinese Poetry (2013) and New Poetry from China 1917–2017 (2019). In 2013 and 2014, she received Henry Luce Foundation fellowships. A co-founder of Poetry East West journal, she serves as the China editor for Poetry International Rotterdam. She has also translates from English into Chinese, most recently Observations by Marianne Moore (2018). Copyright © 2019 University of Hawaiʿi Press