World Literature:
Jidi Majia (China)
Boulders
They bear the faces of the Nuosu people
Who live in the loneliest mountain regions
These seemingly lifeless objects
Swarthy brows scrabbled with traces of eagle talons
When feelings of the years overflow
And pass through all illusory seasons
Unbounded dreams and stray memories
Survey the ageless sky and familiar soil
Only after the sun's fire has kindled them
Can they approach the sleep of death
But who can tell me what human misfortunes
Are contained in all this
I have seen many lifeless objects
That bear the faces of
the Nuosu people
Century after century of silence
Has done nothing to lighten their agony
