Christine Peiying Chen (New Zealand-China)
Por: Christine Peiying Chen
Rebirth Trilogy (Set Poem)
Glazed
Bees flow with colors, weaving through the flowers
Flowers flow with colors, bathed in clouds, rain, and dew
Cats flow with colors, chasing rainbow moons
Light revolves around her
Cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, all revolve around her—
Hoeing, watering flowers, doing laundry, cooking, calling cats and dogs
She is spun around, spinning and spinning, until she becomes the core of everything
He was mesmerized, forgetting time... until
His own eyes shimmered with seven colors, draped in iridescent robes, only then did he realize
He had also become a part of her:
Together, flowing with glazed colors
Birth
Finally, reaching the last layer of the realm of colors: blue
Covering the sky, touching the ground, clouds diving into lakes and seas
Lotus flowers and hydrangeas bloom to extravagance
Azure, making it hard to breathe!
Clattering, hooves never stop
Within the sound of hooves, she traverses layer after layer of colored realms—
Spring's tender yellow, summer's pink, autumn's clear gold...
Overflowing with colorful light, wandering through a myriad of colors
The backpack grows lighter, like
The fading lover and hometown, gradually distant and fading away—
Entering the scroll of black and white ink
Snowy mountains, arrived
Surrounded by mountains like memories
Thousand mountains covered in dusk snow, only two flickering black pupils
Silence. Echoes resonate: calling, so clear! ...
Awakening, the various colors of her, unified like a thousand-armed Avalokitesvara
A woman in a superposition state, reborn
Her body stands tall, fair skin with rosy cheeks, chest rising and falling gently
The sky is ablaze, the earth is blanketed in white—
Falling on her body and shoulders
Petrified
Roaring like a tiger or resonating like a dragon
The howling thunder arrives and the shooting stars depart
Whether in exuberant vitality or in heart-wrenching pain
All fall into stillness with the wilting of plants, transforming into wonders after decay
Finally, the secret technique to resist weathering and erosion emerges.
Possessing crystal clarity and hardness
Every inch of skin is gently kissed by time, comforting and preserving
With clear bones, dynamic interplay of light and shadow, absorbing the essence of sun and moon
The body is filled with radiant flowing light
Oh darling, do not be afraid
In this world, there are always unexpected wonders--
From organic to inorganic, to transcending the mundane, how beautiful it is:
Falling leaves in flowing water, moonlight and flying birds, brushing against the body like silk
An invisible pair of hands, renewing you completely,
Love or pain, forgetting or memory, all become raw materials--
Remember, you are destined as a precious gem
Light
You are light
As the sunflowers face the sun
Birds flock to the forest, circling around.
Splashes of light and shadows, white waves surge.
All things are adorned.
Undulating, swaying and flickering.
There are fishing fires, and the trembling between flower branches.
That is the flower of Master Yangming; as long as you open your eyes, it is bright.
Everything superimposed, geometric series growing.
Love, hatred, joy, and sorrow, crashing down with maximum density.
Thousands of piles of snow, myriad trees in bloom.
... A new century is coming.
Light from the Cambrian, heading straight to the great era, skipping snow, moon, wind, and flowers.
I am amazed: straight lines and cross-sections, neat and clean.
Floor covered in vivid blood.
I widen my eyes, watching how he cuts things with the shortest path.
I loved once, then hated once.
Finally understood: time and light both travel in straight lines.
Hand rises, knife falls, swiftly
Existence Modes
-- The beauty of decay
A sense of fragmentation lingers at your fingertips--
The last leaf of autumn, fragile and easily shattered
Picked up, rubbed, torn, squeezed
Broken into pieces, into dust, fading like a fragrance
Exposed veins tremble delicately in your palm, gasping--
A thorough ravaging
Perhaps, this is what she has long awaited--
Destined to fall, she must shine proudly like the sunset, in a magnificent display
Completing ultimate brilliance, carrying a river of shattered scales
Sinks into a deep sleep, nurturing
A new beauty in the making
Christine Peiying Chen born in Lushan, China, in 1968, but is a naturalized New Zealander. She is a bilingual poet, translator, columnist for the newspaper 'Mandarin Page' (New Zealand); and editor-in-chief of the New York newspaper 'Compact news'. Some recognitions obtained are: Best Foreign Author Award 2023; 30th 'Ossi Di Seppia' Italian Literature Award; winner of the International Poetry Contest 'Asia Literaria' (Chinese language). Two-time winner of the 'New Zealand Literature Prize' (Chinese literature) in 2018 and 2019. Chen's work has been translated and published in different languages, including Hindi, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Albanian, Russian, Kazakh, Korean, Bengali, etc.
In 2022, Chen participated in organizing and editing the Sydney International Poetry Festival in Australia and received a “Special Contribution Award”. In 2023, she was appointed continental coordinator of the World Poetry Movement in Oceania. She is also on the committee of the Chinese Writers Association of New Zealand from 2021 to the present.
