The Eagle By Liang Jilin

The Eagle

By Liang Jilin

In the sky over Alxa League on the Mongolian plateau, an eagle flies,

carrying on its wings an enormous amount of silence.

It circles, it dives, it tilts,

suddenly it lets out a screech,

as focused as when we miss someone,

as penetrating as our sorrows,

as willful as when we reject the world.

A double-humped camel walks out from the desert,

head high, aloof, on a mission to convey my coolness,

looking at the eagle,

looking at the grain of relic buried in the sun.

Tell them, Baghatur, or the herder called Buren Menghe,

what is it that I like—

from the Left Banner to the Right Banner,

with five hundred plus kilometers in between,

there's the one as fiery as some sixty-eight-proof spirits—

a flower, in red,

a red flower.

The eagle takes after the sun, the sun,

an eagle. 

About the poet:

Liang Jilin is a native of Shandan County, Gansu Province. He is a member of the China Writers Association and one of the "Eight Outstanding Poets of Gansu". He participated in the 21st Youth Poetry Conference hosted by the Poetry Periodical and was a student of the 29th Advanced Training Class at the Lu Xun Literature Institute. He has published multiple poetry collections, including Hexi Land, North by Northwest, Tribe, and Selected Golden Works of the Eight Outstanding Writers of Gansu Literature • Poetry Volume • Poems by Liang Jilin, as well as a short story collection Looking for Daerji and a full-length novel Fulou Town.