叶延滨[中国]

新月已生飞鸟外

    ——《蒋宜茂诗选》序

友人荐来重庆诗人蒋宜茂诗稿，诗稿中见到重庆著名诗人对蒋宜茂的评价：“诗人蒋宜茂是一个拥有诗歌百宝箱的行者，读其诗，观其人，体其思，我们很容易在他的诗歌中寻找到各自所需，能够迅速进入诗人所建造的诗意世界。”引起了我的兴趣。蒋宜茂是中国作家协会的会员，可见他的作品已得到社会公认。我以前对他的作品读得不多，读到这本诗集，知道他已从职场一线退休，把自己近些年写作的诗篇集结成书。难得有机会了解这位一辈子爱诗写诗的诗人，分享他的诗篇，也探求这位长期只能业余写作的诗人，为什么能坚持自己的初心，与诗为伴，不离不弃。说实话对于所有坚持写作的诗人，无论在写作上成就高低，都值得关注，为他点赞。细读诗人蒋先生的诗稿，常为他的作品感动，于是写此文章，不是走过场一一解读诗人的作品，是想与关注蒋先生创作的读者朋友，分享我读了诗人这本诗稿后的一些感想，同时也与蒋宜茂先生共勉。

诗人蒋宜茂在写作手法上走的是坚守传统之道，守正创新，注意诗歌的韵律与节奏，注重意象和意境的营造。诗人并不是当下诗坛的弄潮儿，不现代派，也非追风者。他更多的是为自己写作，言为心声，是蒋先生诗歌的第一特点。正因为如此，他的诗真实自然，不装神弄鬼，也不故作高深，直抒胸臆，使我们读其诗，知其心。这为我们与诗人发生情感上的交流提供了重要前提，同时也让我们了解诗歌如何与蒋先生相伴而行。诗人一生都爱诗写诗，值得读者朋友关注的重点，是他对诗歌始终抱有敬畏之心。在《敬畏春意》这首诗中，表达了他的敬畏之情：“我不会轻率或贸然/以诗的名义书写春意。/固执地以为/‘春’不可以‘踏’，/‘青’也不可随意‘踩’。//孕育生机，复苏万物的气魄/无以复加与伦比。/行走旷野，穿越丛林，/博大深邃的法则，明眸闪烁。/一串串形容词，缠绵枝头，/鲜活灵敏的动词/牵手无数名词，/在风中漫飞飘洒，俯首即拾。//小心翼翼，捧着春酿出的诗句，哪怕只言片语，/顺风吟咏，聆听春的发动机/悄然奏响不竭的韵律。/众生苍茫，对春的感佩与敬意，亘古不息，在天地间氤氲生机……”我们通常把春意与诗意相提相比，我从敬畏春意中感到了诗人对诗歌的敬畏。这是一个好诗人必备的诗心。无敬畏可以写出惊世之句或者轰动一时的诗歌，然而少了敬畏之心，最终成为凋果或残叶，在不眠时光的淘洗后泯于烟尘。诗人这种真诚的敬畏之心，使他面对生活，面对大自然和面对自己，都真实而坦诚，写出的诗篇力求明朗向上，不晦涩，不阴暗。读者走进诗篇也有了走进诗人内心的机会。

作为一个与诗为伴的人，一生与诗为伴，最重要的理由是什么？是内心的孤独感。无论是李白对影成三人，还是今天我们生活在都市里挤地铁的人，都难以避免，特别是那些从职场上退回家中的人们，这几乎是难以逃脱的宿命。蒋宜茂在诗中写道：“夜空迷离，月亮只睁开一只眼。/星辰各就各位，/静待浮云检点。//离楼顶最近的那颗星/似乎不合群。/一只幼稚的夜莺/在万年青树梢飞旋。//善良的灵魂/用爱铸就开关。/星光与眼眸对视，/夜莺的歌声/嘹亮动听。/清风徐来/驱散星辰孤独的皱纹。”最后一句就是这首诗的题目《驱散星辰孤独的皱纹》。诗人显然不是在写星星，而是在写自己或某个特定对象。也许孤独的自己好像不合群，其实选择了诗歌就在努力摆脱心灵和灵魂的孤独，与先贤对话，与天地万物为友，用爱铸就开关，诗歌寻找知己。这是人生重要的醒悟，也是战胜孤独的心灵倻伽术。蒋宜茂在诗歌中表达的人生体验，对读者是会有启发的，诗歌不是谋生的职业，选择诗歌是选择一种生活方式和生活态度。我总在说，诗歌是一种向前看的艺术，其实对于上了点年纪的人，很多时候也是回忆一生的一种方式，三省其身，求善求仁。正如诗人的这首诗《寻找记忆》：“昨夜的雨，似乎不够理智。/跨越了随风潜入的线路，/演示着闯入的步履，/楼顶 雨棚 窗棂，鼓点轰鸣。/一树槐花，洁白的光晕，/风雨中黯然失色。/清晨，几只鸟的怨声，/陷入满地星星叠加的碎片。//小区大门旁与天宫殿公园的榕树，/不规则的根须，似渔网罩住土石，/无孔不入与得寸进尺并行，/固守住健硕的身躯。/泛黄的叶片，/无论厚薄，依依纷飞，/寻找植根入土时的记忆。”人到了退休的年纪，无法回避的心态之一，就是常常回忆往事。不堪回首是苦，重温初心是甜。善恶自知，人在做，天在看，心里明白。说到底只有内心坦荡的人，才愿意回首往事，因为奋斗过，追求过，真爱过，无论成就大小，回首皆风景。诗人写回忆是自信，诗人主要的姿态还是向前看。向前看换句话叫诗与远方，那就是生命力和创造力引导的结果。换个说法，诗歌是心灵的歌唱，但唱得怎么样？很重要的一个标志，就是诗人的想象力如何，如果没有想象力，不能给你笔下的事物以崭新的意象，这样的诗歌就无法征服读者。蒋宜茂在作品中依然有出乎意料的想象力，比如《海浪》这首诗：“海的发际线/托着天微笑的脸，/胸腹涌动的浪，/未曾滔过天，罕有风平浪静。//浪潮抛出的曲线，/成五线谱蝶变。/蓝底白练，律动兼融，/袒露心声，无需罩隐。//一浪高过一浪，/前浪斜躺沙滩。/大浪淘洗过的沙，/依旧泛着黄光。/粒粒相拥，聚散自助，/海市蜃楼的机理/演绎聚沙成塔。/千古海滩，痴情远眺天涯。”这首写景的诗不错，写大海诗歌不可计数，这首诗开头的两句：“海的发际线/托着天微笑的脸”就没有人写过。用发际线形容远方的海浪，有想象，也新颖，让整首诗都鲜活了。在诗人的两行三行的短诗中，更能看出诗人的想象力和创造力。比如两行的《写诗》：“他在云雾里觅语造句，你在池塘边拾意洗词。”对仗工整，炼字精到，形象生动，显示出诗人的传统诗学功底。再比如三行诗《生活》：“白昼，被生活牵着鼻子走，/深夜，将累弯的脊柱放平，/灵魂自由出窍，天马遨游……”简洁生动，浮想跳跃，让人过目难忘。诗人向前看的姿态，不仅表现在丰富的想象力和意象创造能力，还在于对新生事物敏感度高和对生活独特的观察能力，诗作《朋友圈》就是例子：“曾经在甲方岗位，/拗不过乙方性质的盛情，/逐年添加微信‘朋友圈’。/记不清互发的内容，/时常收到密集的赞音。/转岗乙方，/‘朋友圈’渐生清凉，/销声匿迹勿用商量。/频见留存的部分‘朋友’，/只给群里甲方人士与年轻女性/发出火焰般的符号。/不曾有感伤，/核查了‘朋友’/‘朋友圈’的本义，/梳理手机固有的容量，/把僵硬的‘朋友’抬出驿道。”手机微信朋友圈这类社会新事物，进入了诗人的诗歌，尽管这首诗还有些浅显急就的痕迹，但值得肯定。特别是从职场一线上退下来的诗人，这种对新事物抱有的热情，实在可贵。我们楼里的一个邻居，退休后，因为不会用网络购物订网约车等新事物，早早地住进了养老院，正是“朋友圈”这样的一些软件，让人们有可能延长社会生活的时间和空间，真正做到了“但愿人长久，千里共婵娟”。与诗为伴，就可能一生富有想象力并且对新事物敏感而有热情。

在传统诗词中，行吟诗是一个重要的题材。蒋宜茂的作品中，行吟占了很重的份量。因为有了诗歌，眼中的山水有了性情。因为走近了山水，笔下的诗歌有了山水的灵性。不读诗歌的人游山玩水就是消遣时光而已。写诗爱诗的蒋宜茂行吟山水，与山水共情，山水让诗人读懂了人生，诗歌让诗人更懂山水。他出国旅游的《柏林墙》是一首精炼而有丰富历史感的佳作：“脚步声川流不息，/伴着寒风的呼啸，/和着莱茵河的波涛，/淹没了柏林墙的残垣。/驻足攒动的人头，/将一束束含刺的光，/投射到带血的残垣上，/在一幅幅涂鸦里沉淀发酵。//那些越墙丧命的残忍/与洪流决堤、墙倒的欢欣，/糅和成一团泥，/嵌入了莱茵河的长堤。/南来北往的游人，/不经意地踩着柏林墙/刻下的痕迹，/怀揣沉重的记忆，/向绿树掩映的大街奔去……”柏林墙的倒塌，标志着德国的统一，更重要的是冷战时代的结束，这是一个世界性的大题目，诗人回避了空洞的议论，从眼前川流不息的游人联想到曾经的血腥日子，引而不发，点到为止，极简之笔墨写出宏大世界的时代变迁。诗人更多的是在国内行走留下的诗篇，其中《天台山即景》写得有声有色，眼前风景与历史回望，叠印出丰富的文化内涵：“徐霞客三登天台山的足迹/在古道深处扎根叠印。/《游天台山日记》打开了/《徐霞客游记》的大门。/明代那个英姿勃发的身影，/手握天台山的一串密码/穿越华顶丛林，/掠过千树万花闪电。//谷壑长出的雾气/争先恐后向华顶弥漫，/归云洞口徘徊，/湿润了葛玄的衣衫，/肆意与如织的游人纠缠。/杉树笔直列阵，/凝视漫山杜鹃的笑靥。/常青藤紧抱佝偻老树的颈/尽情缠绵，/黯淡了路人的脚步声。//沸腾的茶香袅过屋顶，/窗外洒落一地鸟鸣。/来来往往的浮云，/从不对它俯瞰的事物说再见。”这首诗好，就好在写出了天台山的禅味。天台山多雾，我曾去过天台山，也为华顶上的浓雾和雾中的树影留下深刻的印象。云雾、树影、茶香、鸟鸣营造的意境，十分恰当的传递了天台山之美。

人生就是一次手持单程票的长途漫游。诗人是行者，是歌者，更是一位修行者。与诗为伴的蒋宜茂，用笔记下他人生中值得留下的美好与真诚。每一次写作过程都变成了向着真善美境界的跋涉。写诗也许需要天分，天才成就大诗人，然而对于更多的写作者而言，写作更需要修炼，写作是向着真善美的长途跋涉，是不断提升自我境界的觉悟与自省。许多诗人不明白这一点，他们也许写过一些优美诗篇，但不明白这一点，难以成为一个好诗人。让我感动的是蒋宜茂是明白人，他的写作就是向着真善美的攀登，他明白写诗就是人性的修行。所以他有这样一首诗《我的道场》：“老屋背后的山岗/俯瞰或平视石墙院全貌。/儿时牵牛羊啃露水草/静候日出东方。/辘辘饥肠爆发童声琅琅，/满坡野草与幼树/晨风中加持鼓掌。//几十年了，这道山梁/回老家必进的课堂。/荒山缀满翠柏，/掩隐老一辈村民的脊梁。/父母坟茔上摇曳的枯草，/风霜里浅吟低唱。/故土的坡坡坎坎，/铸就我修行的道场。”这首诗奠定了诗人的精神高度与诗歌品格。海德格尔说：“诗人的天职是返乡。”用蒋宜茂的话翻译一下就是：我用诗歌修行的道场是故乡的山水与父母的坟茔。这首诗表明了诗人对诗歌的清醒认识，把握了诗歌精神的要领，是一个理解诗歌大义并且能把握自己创作姿态的诗人。因此，我相信他的读者也会读懂他的诗歌，走进他的精神世界——一个好诗人的追求与向往。

是为序。

   2023年11月于北京初冬

Ye Yanbin [China]

A New Moon Is Born Beyond the Flying Bird

  — Preface to Selected Poems of Jiang Yimao

The collection of poems by Jiang Yimao, a poet in Chongqing, has been recommended to me by my friend, in which I come to read such a comment by a famous poet: “Jiang Yimao, as a poet, is a traveler with a treasure box of poetry; reading his poems and the poet himself, examining his thinking, it is easy for us to find our respective need in his poems, and we can quickly enter the poetic world nurtured by the poet.” This has aroused my interest. Jiang Yimao is a member of the Chinese Writers’ Association, which shows that his works have been recognized by the society. I have not read many poems by him before, and when I read this collection of poems, I know that he has retired from his work and has time to collect the poems he has written in recent years into a book. It is a rare opportunity to understand the poet who loves writing poems all his life, and it is my pleasure to share with the readers his poems, and to explore why Jiang, as a part-time poet, can adhere to his original heart through so many years, and stay with poetry. To be honest, all poets who insist on writing, in spite of their different achievements, deserve our attention. Reading closely the poems by Jiang, I am often touched, so I write this article, not to interpret the poet’s poems one by one, but to share some of my feelings after reading with the readers who pay attention to the poet’s works, while serving as mutual encouragement between the poet and me.

Jiang Yimao sticks to the traditional way of writing with a sense of innovation, while paying attention to the rhyme and rhythm of poetry, emphasizing the creation of image and artistic conception. The poet is neither a trendsetter in the current poetry world, nor a modernist, nor a follower of the wind. He writes for himself, and his words speak from his heart, which features Jiang’s poetry. Owing to this, his poems are true and natural, instead of being pretentious or mysterious, the literary pieces express his inner feelings directly, so that when we read his poems, we come to know his heart. This provides an important premise for us to have an emotional communication with the poet, and also allows us to understand how poetry goes with Jiang. The poet loves writing poems all his life, and the key point is that his heart is always filled with awe for poetry. In Awe of Spring has expressed his feeling of awe: “I will not be rash or hasty / in writing spring in the name of poetry. / Clinging to the idea / that ‘spring’ cannot ‘go for an outing’, / and ‘green’ cannot be ‘gathered’ casually. // The breadth of spirit to give birth to vitality and revive all things, / unrepeatable and unmatched. / Walking in the wilderness, through the jungle, / broad and profound law, bright eyes twinkling. / A string after another string of adjectives, entangling on the branches, / vivid and sensitive verbs, / hand in hand with countless nouns, / flying freely in the wind, bending down to pick them up. // Carefully, holding the poetry brewed spring; / even a single word, / wind chanting, listen to the engine of spring, / an inexhaustible rhythm played quietly. / Human beings are numberless and boundless, with appreciation and respect for spring, / everlasting vitality, in heaven and earth ….” Usually we mention spring in the same breath with poetry, and I feel the poet’s awe to poetry from his awe of spring. This is the essential poetic heart of a good poet. Without awe a poet can produce a startling sentence or a sensational poem, but without it, a poem becomes a withered fruit or a yellowed leaf, lost in dust after the washing of sleepless hours. The poet’s sincerity and reverence makes him true and honest in the face of life, nature and himself. His poems strive to be bright and upward, instead of being obscure. When the reader enters the poem, he also has the chance to enter the poet’s heart.

As a poetry lover, what is the most important reason behind it? It is the loneliness in the heart. Whether it is Li Bai who drinks with the bright moon and his own shadow, or those city dwellers who often find themselves in the crowded subway, it is difficult to shun loneliness, especially for those who have retired at home. This is almost fated and inevitable. Jiang thus writes: “The night sky is in a stupor, / and the moon opens only one eye. / The stars are all at their posts, / ready for the inspection of floating clouds. // The star which is closest to the top of the building, / seems to be unsociable. / A childish nightingale / is hovering over the top of the evergreen tree. // A kind soul / forges a switch with love. / The stars and the eyes gaze at each other, / and the song of the nightingale / is loud and touching. / Fresh breeze rises from the canyon, / to disperse the lonesome wrinkles of the stars.” The last is the title of the poem: To Disperse the Lonesome Wrinkles of the Stars. Obviously, the poet is not writing about the stars, but about himself or a particular object. Perhaps as a loner, the poet seems to experience social withdrawal; actually, choosing poetry is trying to get rid of loneliness of the soul, is dialogue with the ancients, is making friends with all lives in the world, is making a switch with love, and composing poems to find friends. This is an important awakening in life, and it is also the art of overcoming loneliness in the mind. The life experience expressed by Jiang Yimao in his poems is enlightening to the readers. Poetry is not a career for making a living, and choosing poetry is choosing a way of life and an attitude towards life. I often say that poetry is an art of looking forward, and in fact, for people who are advancing in age, it is often a way to recall their life, to reflect on themselves, to seek goodness and benevolence. Jiang’s poem entitled Searching for Memory: “Last night’s rain seems to be irrational. / Across the line where the wind sneaks in, / demonstrating the steps of the intruder, / roof  canopy  windows  drumming like thunders. // A tree of locust flowers, white halo, / pale in wind and rain. / In the morning, grumbling of a few birds, / caught in the debris of the stars all over the ground. // Banyan trees near the gate of the community and in the Heavenly Palace Park, / irregular roots, like fishing nets, to cover the earth and rock, / pervasive and progressive, / hold on to the strong trunk. / The yellowing leaves, / thick or thin, are flying lingeringly, / to look for the memories that have been planted in the ground.” When people reach the age of retirement, one of the unavoidable attitudes is to recall the past from time to time. It is bitter when it is unbearable to look back, and it is sweet to regain the original heart. Good or evil, the doer knows best; when people are doing, heaven is watching, with an understanding heart. In the final analysis, only people with a candid heart are willing to look back on the past, because the struggle, the pursuit, and the true love, regardless of the various degrees of achievement, looking back, all is enchanting scenery. The poet’s memory is self-confidence, yet the poet’s main posture is still looking forward. In other words, it is the so-called poetry and the distance, which is the result of vitality and creativity. In other words, poetry is the singing of the soul, but what about the singing? A very important indicator is how imaginative the poet is; without imagination, and if a poet fails to produce new images out of the things he writes about, the poem cannot prevail over the readers. In his poems, Jiang Yimao has an unexpected imagination, take The Sea Waves as an example: “The hairline of the sea, / holding the smiling face of heaven, / the waves from swelling of the chest and belly, / have never reached the sky, / and rare is the calm sea. // The curves thrown by the waves, / tune into a staff. / White on blue grounding, rhythmic; / no need to hide your heart. // Each wave is bigger than the preceding one, / the front wave reclining on the beach. / The sand washed by the waves, / it is still glowing yellow. // Hugging each other, gather and scatter automatically; / the mechanism of mirage, / interpretation of sand accumulating into a tower. / The age-old beach, / foolish love looks far away to the horizon.” This poem is good for painting scenery, in spite of countless poems about the sea. The beginning two lines are original: “The hairline of the sea, / holding the smiling face of heaven”. There is both imagination and novelty for the poet to use the hairline to describe the distant waves, and the whole poem is fresh for it. The poet’s imagination and creativity can be seen in his short poems of two or three lines. For example, a poem of two lines entitled Writing Poems: “He finds words in the clouds, and you wash words by the pond.” There is neat antithesis, with refined words and vivid images, which shows the traditional poetics of the poet. A poem of three lines entitled Life: “In daytime, led by the nose of life, / late at night, the tired curved spine is laid flat, / the soul freely out of the body, roaming like a heavenly horse….” The poem is simple and vivid, floating and jumping, unforgettable for the readers. The poet’s forward-looking attitude is not only reflected in his rich imagination and image creation, but also in his high sensitivity to new things and his unique observation of life. The poem WeChat Moments is a good example: “Used to work for Party A, / unable to resist the hospitality of Party B’s nature. / Wechat ‘moments’ grows year by year. / The mutual messages are forgotten, / and often a barrage of praises are received. // Job transfer to Party B, / ‘the circle of friends’ gradually cools down, / some disappearance without notification. / Some remaining ‘friends’ are often seen / to ‘thumbs up’ for those of Party A / and young girls passionately. // I never breathe sentimentality, / and I check and examine all my ‘friends’, / to get the original and extended meaning of ‘the circle of friends’. / Combing the inherent capacity of mobile phones, / to kick off some stiff ‘friends’ off the post road.” New social things such as WeChat Moments have entered the poet’s poetry, and although this poem is still a bit superficial, written hastily, still it deserves recognition. Particularly for poets who have retired from their work, it is valuable to have such enthusiasm for new things. One of our neighbors living in the same building, after retirement, knows nothing about online shopping, online cars and other new things, has moved into a nursing home. It is the software such as “WeChat Moments” that makes it possible for people to extend their time and space of social life, to realize “the fond wish for a long life, though thousands of miles away”. With poetry, it is possible to be imaginative and sensitive to new things, and enthusiasm for a lifetime.

In traditional poetry, poetry of traveling and singing is an important theme. In Jiang Yimao’s works, traveling and singing plays a very important role. Owing to poetry, the landscape in the eyes has a temperament. Approaching the landscape, the poems under his pen have the spirit of landscape. People who do not read poetry make a sightseeing tour just for sightseeing, and Jiang Yimao, a poet who deeply loves poems, sings about the mountains and rivers sympathetically, and the mountains and rivers let the poet understand life, while poems let the poet understand mountains and rivers. Passing by the Relics of the Berlin Wall, a poem about his traveling abroad, is a fine piece of work with a refined and rich sense of history: “A steady stream of footsteps, / with the whistling of the cold wind, / against the waves of the Rhine, / the remains of the Berlin Wall are flooded. / Crowded human heads which keep still, / reflect beams of prickly light / onto the bloody wreckage, / fermenting in a bunch of doodles. // The cruelty of those who cross the wall to die, / and the joy of the torrent breaking its banks and the wall falling down, / kneaded into a mass of mud, / to be embedded in the levee of the Rhine. / Visitors from all over the country, / inadvertently step on the Berlin Wall, / the carved marks, / with a heavy memory, / running to the green tree-lined streets....” The falling down of the Berlin Wall symbolizes the unification of Germany, and more significantly, the end of the Cold War. This is a big topic of the world, and the poet has avoided the empty discussion; from the endless visitors before the eyes, the poet is associative of the bloody days in the past, in a restrained or tempered tone of writing, to briefly narrate the great changes of the times. The poet has more poems about his travels in China, and Inspired by Tiantai Mountain is written in vividly, the scenery before the eyes and historical review are overlapping with a rich cultural connotation: “The footprints of Xu Xiake, a great tourist-writer, have been printed in Tiantai Mountain for three times, / rooting in the depths of the ancient path. / The Touring Diary of Tiantai Mountain has opened / the gate of The Travels of Xu Xiake. / The dashing and spirited form of the Ming Dynasty, / holding a string of codes for Tiantai Mountain, / through the jungle atop the mountain, / the lightning through a thousand trees and flowers. // The fog growing out of the valley / scrambles to the top of the mountain, / wandering at the entrance to the clouds, / to wet Ge Xuan’s clothes, / entangling wantonly with crowded visitors. // Fir trees in a straight line, / gazing into the smiles of a mountainful of cuckoos. / The ivy clasps the neck of the stooped old tree, / making love passionately and lingeringly, / to dim the footsteps of the passers-by. // The boiling tea wafts over the roof; / without the window the birdsongs are sprinkling all over the ground. / The clouds floating here and there, / never say goodbye to what it overlooks.” This is a good poem, because it has conveyed the Zen flavor of Tiantai Mountain, which is a foggy mountain. Having been to the mountain, I am deeply impressed by the heavy fog and the tree shadows. The artistic conception created by the clouds, the shadows of trees, the fragrance of tea, and the song of birds has appropriately conveyed the beauty of Tiantai Mountain.

Life is a long journey with a one-way ticket in hand. A poet is a walker, a singer, and a practitioner. Jiang Yimao, who has poetry in his heart, writes down the beauty and sincerity worthwhile in life. Each writing process becomes a trek toward the realm of truth, goodness and beauty. Writing poetry may require talent, and genius makes a great poet, but for more writers, writing needs cultivation, and writing is a long journey toward the truth, the good and the beautiful, constantly improving their self-consciousness and self-reflection. Many poets are ignorant of this; they may have written some beautiful poems, but without this knowledge, it is difficult to become a good poet. What touches me is that Jiang Yimao is a poet of wisdom; his writing is climbing towards the truth, the good and the beautiful, and he understands that writing poetry is the religious cultivation of human nature. Therefore, he has produced such a poem entitled My Ashram: “The hill behind the old house / commands a panoramic view of the stonewalled courtyard. / In childhood, herd oxen and goats to graze dewy grass, / waiting for the sun to rise in the east. / The belly is rumbling with hunger, like the voice of children; / the slope is blanketed with wild grass and young trees, / clapping their hands in the morning breeze. // For decades, this mountain ridge / is the classroom which I must enter when going home. / The barren hill is covered with green cypresses, / which hide the backbones of the older generation of villagers. / The dead grass swaying on my parents’ grave / is singing in the weather-beaten life. / The ravines of my native land / has forged the ashram for my religious cultivation.” This poem has established the poet’s spiritual height and poetic character. Heidegger says, “the poet’s duty is to return home.” Jiang Yimao’s interpretation is: the ashram where I practice poetry is the landscape of my hometown and the grave of my parents. This poem shows that the poet, with a clear understanding of poetry, has grasped the essential spirit of poetry, and he is a poet who understands the major meaning of poetry and can maintain his own composing posture. Therefore, I believe that the readers can understand his poems and enter his spiritual world — the pursuit and yearning of a good poet.

Hence the preface.

       November, 2023, early winter in Beijing

（Translated by Prof. Zhang Zhizhong；张智中教授 译)

作者简介

叶延滨，当代诗人、作家、评论家。历任四川《星星》主编、中国作协《诗刊》主编、中国作协诗歌委员会主任。现已出版诗集、文集共54部。代表诗作《干妈》获中国作家协会（1979年——1980年）优秀中青年诗人诗歌奖，诗集《二重奏》获中国作家协会（1985年——1986年）第三届新诗集奖，其余诗歌、散文、杂文分别先后获四川文学奖、北京文学奖、十月文学奖、青年文学奖等近百余种文学奖。作品先后被收入了国内外600余种选集。

About the author

Ye Yanbin is a poet, writer and critic in contemporary China. He has successively been the editor-in-chief of The Star Poetry Periodical of Sichuan province, the editor-in-chief of Poetry Periodical of Chinese Writers’ Association, and the director of the Poetry Committee of Chinese Writers Association. He is the author of 54 poetry collections and literary anthologies. His representative poem Foster-mother won the Excellent Young and Middle-aged Poets Award (1979-1980) by the Chinese Writers Association; his poetry collection Duet won the third New Poetry Collection Award by the Chinese Writers Association (1985-1986), and his other poems, essays, prose pieces have won nearly 100 kinds of literature prizes, including Sichuan Literature Prize, Beijing Literature Prize, October Literature Prize, and Youth Literature Prize, etc. His works have been included in over 600 anthologies at home and abroad.