The Cry Of The Ugly Bird
Its cry low and deep,
untouched by even the slightest harm
The wind and the dusk
waver because of it
Because of it, I grow vast and distant,
in possession of my own church
Its cry solitary and pure,
over the open wilderness
A lonely tree, for its sake,
raises up its withered faith
Rong Runsheng 荣润生 is a poet currently living in Kunshan, China. He is a member of the Shanxi Writers’ Association. He was awarded the first Tieliu Literature Prize (1986–1988) and the Platinum Pen Award at the Fourth International Micro-Poetry Competition. He is the author of My Heart Burned the Night (2017) and The Cry of the Ugly Bird (2022).
Zhiyuan Mark Ma 马志远 is a poet and translator in Chinese and English. He holds a BA from Duke University, a BA from Duke Kunshan University, and is now an MFA candidate at Boston University. He is a recipient of the 2026 Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry and is a finalist of the 8th “00s International Poetry Award.” His poems and translations have appeared in Washington Square Review, Poet Lore, ANMLY, SAND journal, The Bombay Literary Magazine, and elsewhere.