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TO OUR MOTHERLAND Time, could erode the inscription on
the monument But it won’t erase the love from
the bottom of our hearts Storm, could wipe flat the wrinkles of
the land But it won’t dissolve the
feeling in our blood Geese migrate with subsided wind and
faded feathers Mysterious silhouette disappears in
dust-faded footprints Journey of drifting Rhythms of poems follow our tails to
the edge of land Ancient tunes breathe with our
ever-changing lives Lean against the bright moonlight
through the window Overlook the remote shore with
flickering lights From now on Let’s fold the lines of poems
into pigeons Fly them into sky with songs of our
hearts Carry our deepest regard to motherland |
PREFACE CONTENT
Some
thirty years ago, the most active overseas Chinese poets were mostly from
Taiwan. Famous poets such as Zheng Chouyu, Yu Kuang-chung, and
William Marr are just a few among them.
Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, a new group of Mainland Chinese
poets, such as Gu Cheng, Bei Dao, landed overseas and brought new energies to the
field of contemporary Chinese poetry. What about now? Which group of writers
have been writing and passing the Chinese poetry heritages in places far from
greater China? Thanks to the
growing popularity of Internet technologies, online forums are now new venues
for overseas Chinese to publish their works, and thus gave birth to a new
generation of overseas poets.
This
new group of writers mostly came from Mainland China after China’s
economic reforms. As the first
generation of immigrants, they thrived through schools, work, recognitions, in
totally foreign environments. The
experiences widen their eyes and enrich their emotions, giving them unique
understanding of life itself.
Inspired by those thoughts, emotions, and experiences, they have written
various subjects ranging from foreign landscapes and climates, life struggles,
home longing, interesting stories, values and beliefs, dreams and hopes. Their
heart-felt passions, energies, stories, and above all the poetic touches, are
all expressed in their native language, and in true love of their motherland.
They
might modestly not name themselves poets， instead call
themselves “poetry lovers”.
They come from all walks of life: professors and scholars, technical
engineers, merchants, doctors, accountants, students….. Most of them have
earned degrees in higher education and become professionals. They live their life just like the rest
of the foreign born individuals and thrive between work and family. Despite living in a foreign soil, they
want to carry their love and burden of passing on their Chinese cultural
heritages. In this era of
commercial superiorities, although poetry of any styles is facing difficulties
from a financial standpoint, they take poetries into their daily lives, and
enrich their souls with poetic appreciations. They may not be trained poets,
but they have gifted talent of instinct and creativity in poem, and have
spiritual advantages of being away from a mercenary world. They express themselves freely, find
poetic inspirations from nature, from work, from home, or just from every
corner of life, and transform the daily scenes to a poetic world--- one of
beauty, of virtue, of imaginations.
No matter what they call them self, their excellent poem works have
clearly illustrated that they are true poets. If we have to name this special group of
oversea poets, we would like to name them “Seal”, which is a
phonogram of “Hai Shi” (poems of
overseas) in Chinese.
In 2010, The Writers Publishing House, which is one of the China’s top Publishing House, published a collective work written
by 30 of such overseas poets. The book earned great reviews from its
readers. In 2012, more than 30
poets are selected to a new book called “300 Elite Poets in Contemporary
China”. In this webpage,
reader can find some of those poems online, among with other excellent
submissions from over 100 reputable Chinese overseas poets.
The styles
of these poems vary: some are aesthetic; some are simple; some are passionate;
some are thoughtful. The subjects of these poems vary: nature landscapes,
romance, life struggles, political critics, wisdoms, dreams and hopes, etc. The
pages are only a few drops of the sea of their hard works, but readers could
trace the footsteps of how overseas poetry develops. This online venue also
serves as a guild and a window to understand the overseas Chinese writers at
the current time: their love of poetry, and their willingness to endorse and to
enrich the wide collections of Chinese literature.
The
echoes from overseas poems are true proofs that deep-rooted cultural heritages
will survive despite of the obstructions of distance or time. Like dandelions growing in every field,
the seeds of poetry spread to every corner of the world. They grow and bloom in the foreign
soils, then fly back to its motherland with newly mature identity. Chinese students carry the seeds of
poetry to all over the world. They may go back home or they may stay overseas,
but the sounds of their hearts are recorded in their poems ----- along with
their footsteps, far but never away.
Exhibition
of Elocution and Composition of Original Oversea Poems
Chinese Oversea Poetry
Forums
We welcome Oversea Chinese Poets to submit your work to