Stone Cell

A companion volume to Lo Fu’s book-length poem Driftwood (Zephyr Press, 2006), Stone Cell compiles writing from every decade of his celebrated literary career.

“Beyond Logic”

Do you know why rivers cling to their banks?
Because they only have one way of dying
Even with two banks, the ferries have no choice
We’d prefer an incendiary bomb
To smelling the scorched stench of the setting sun

As long as I live I’m destined to swallow those awful sonnets
Turning to the last page—
Still those damned sonnets

This is a cemetery where a single voice is buried
It echoes in the heart, an eagle circles the brink
If it’s a thorn, let it pierce blood with love
If it’s a poppy, let a smile blossom on the lips
The poet’s philosophy of life
is an unwillingness to die

Lo Fu is the author of twelve volumes of poetry. He has won all the major literary awards in Taiwan, including the China Times Literary Award and the National Literary Award. Zephyr’s previous book by Lo Fu, Driftwood, was noted as one of the “poetry books of the year” on the Poetry Foundation’s blog Harriet.

John Balcom has translated more than a dozen books into English from Chinese. He is an associate professor and head of the Chinese program at the Monterey Institute. Balcom’s recent publications include Taiwan’s Indigenous Writers: An Anthology of Stories, Essays, and Poems, which received the 2006 Northern California Book Award.

Lo Fu is the pen name of Mo Luofu, born in China in 1928. He joined the military during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and moved to Taiwan in 1949. While stationed in southern Taiwan in 1954, he founded the Epoch Poetry Society with Zhang Mo and Ya Xian. He immigrated to Vancouver in 1996, where he still lives. John Balcom has published more than a dozen books into English from Chinese. He is Associate Professor and Chinese Program Head at the Monterey Institute, and current president of ALTA.