▲ Photography: Yu Fei
brushwood
It was just dark
When I was a teenager, I had to get up early
Cut the grass with the dew home
The fields south of the village are full of grass
In these dense grasses are also hidden countless animals
Those smooth frogs, those ugly toads
Limping through the grass
These poor animals
Their children and grandchildren died in the dry mud
I often have to cut down pieces of grass in such grass
Then stuff the basket again
I didn't realize it at the time
His own young life has long been associated with these grasses
These grasses grow everywhere
These trampled grasses
Just like a weak man, I grew up silently in the countryside
It seems like years have passed
I walked again by the cornfield east of the village
I saw the peasants who were "squealing, squeaking" from the ground and throwing mud out
"This year's rain is heavy, you have to dig a ditch to do it"
I can't wait here for too long
My mother's hut was already full of water
Pots and pans are floating on the water
But my father did not know where he was
I stumbled home
Rain also came from behind
The loudspeakers in the village began broadcasting again
The weather forecast was broadcast over and over again
What I was worried about finally came up
The river had already risen over the small bridge
I figured out how I could cross the river
It's just that it seems like years have passed
Cursive's father
I thought again of my father, who had lived in the countryside for fifty-one years
He buried his head deep in the soil
He was never going to wake up like this
Spent a humiliating year like grass
He could no longer look up
Like withered grass had already broken its neck
But now is the season of decay
How could I tell where the white hair was?
Where is the dry grass
This is the father who has been crawling in the dirt for fifty-one years
Once again he buried himself in the dirt
He grew in the dirt
It's one of the kids
His life was grass life
One of the grasses without a name
The grass is strong again
There are also seasons that it fears
My father lost his life in such a season
But he passed on the bloodline to me
Where do you hide when the wind blows
Father, where are you now
Do you know the news that the wind is blowing?
It's been almost two years since you passed away
A natural disaster in our county
It is said to be very rare and rare in a hundred years
Trees were uprooted
The plastic greenhouse blew a fine light
Post-disaster data statistics are displayed
Eight people died and hundreds were wounded throughout the county
Of the eight people who died
Six were peasants and two were laid-off workers
Farmers have to take care of vegetables in the shed against the wind
Laid-off workers have to pick up garbage in the city against the rain
In such bad weather
They don't go to hell, who goes to hell
The only thing I can't know is about you
Where did you go when the storm came that day
Is it under the mound, or in heaven?
Wherever you are
I'm all going to be thankful for you
Glad you never fight the wind and rain in the ground again
Glad you have the heart to be taken in by the disease
But he did not intend to escape a natural disaster
Like mud like grass
How long will it take to wait
Only then could the father crawl out of the dark mud
A farmer who has been cultivating the land for several years
Occasionally, you have to use the ability to change
Go into the swamp and become a fisherman
But now he can't go ashore
The body is leaning deep in the water
He was going to outstrip the speed of those sick fish
A tail of non-leaky particles is returned to the warehouse
But he was still a novice after all
In the change, a tail that could not be hidden was revealed
Again and again, the fish broke through and fled
He also had to be a little embarrassed in exhaustion
How many fish he had to catch in a whole afternoon
My young heart was already muttering
But he had no intention of giving up
Although he had already made the ground full of mud and grass
Even the hat on the tip of the grass was gone
author
Tatsumi
Chen Shui, real name Li Hongzhen. Born in 1977, a native of Lanling, Shandong. He is a member of the Chinese Writers Association. He has won the 3rd Red Sorghum Poetry Award and the 1st Shandong Literature Award. Participated in the 32nd Youth Poetry Conference and the 19th Prose Poetry Pen Conference. He has been selected for books such as "Fifty Years of Stars Poetry Selection", "Post-70s Poetry Archive", "Selected Poetry of the 21st Century" and other books and various annual anthologies, and has authored the poetry collection "Life and Death Reading", "Chenshui Poetry Selection", and the poetry collection "We Qi".
Editor-in-Charge: Gan Zi Su Wenmo
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