fog of time

"I ordered a seat for you, in the theatre,for next spring
And a message for you, for the summer after next...
As well as one storm, two flowers, three starry skies..."

I hold six pieces of clouds from five years later
(the clouds I ordered from three starry skies...)
Calmly and brilliantly, in the seat next to yours
With numerous raindrops which are not yet broken

I describe to you the storm, the storm
Frozen in the spines of a school of fish
(The storm I ordered from the darkest trench of the Pacific...)
And afterwards, two flowers, three starry skies...

Excerpts from Zheng Danyi's Fog of Time

Images by Wai Lin Tse, with thanks