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Original Graphic Art ‘The Blood Moon’ specially created by Amber Pletts 16th September 2025 for Ma Yongbo 马永波 and Helen Pletts’ 海伦·普莱茨 Response Poetry.
“The moon is taking its time to turn red. I won’t wait for the blood moon anymore. Going to sleep and posting an old poem.” Ma Yongbo 马永波, 7th September 2025
The Red Beast in the Mountains
山中红兽
The moon appears through the web of poplar branches and leaves
appears above the damp rooftops
the moon is full, it gathers the ghosts of the mountains
forming a ring of shadows, like ripples on the lake bottom.
How merciful you are, pouring the comforting light
upon the human world, upon our gradually cooling shoulders
yet also draping desolation over us like an old garment.
Nothing can stop the black treetops from rising into the sky
nothing can share dawn and dusk with you
except words, except the silver gasping on the pond
except the symbols and correspondences we have abandoned
what can once again bind our blood and your tides
tightly in a valley we cannot escape?
The moon rises, you, crystal of an angel among thorns
tilt the wine cup again, let the dark stream
carry its sound downward, telling us
that where the river slows down is the village.
Midnight, August 13, 2022
Response Poetry By Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated By Ma Yongbo 马永波
山中红兽
The Red Beast in the Mountains
月亮出现在杨树的枝叶之网
出现在湿漉漉的屋顶之上
月亮已经圆满，它聚集山间的幽灵
形成环形的阴影，像湖底的波纹
你是何其仁慈，把安慰的光亮
洒在人世间，洒在我们渐渐冰凉的肩膀
同时也把荒凉，像一件旧衣服
披在我们的身上，没有什么
能够阻挡漆黑的树梢升上天空
没有什么，能和你分享晨昏
除了词语，除了池塘上喘息的银色
除了我们抛弃的象征与契合
有什么能再次把血液和你的潮汐
紧系在一个走不出去的山谷
月亮升起，你这荆棘丛中天使的晶体
再次把酒杯倾斜，让黑暗中的溪流
把水声向低处传送，告诉我们
河流放慢的地方就是村庄
2022年8月13日午夜
red residing in me at the white core of everything shiny
红栖息于我体内，在万物洁白的核心闪亮
red adorning my face in a questioning bloom of crimson fire
burning the brooding red and sliding earth
red wearing red subterfuge like a red glove
one night of red and blushing, without, within, and blushing
red hanging us in her red mirror
holding us in red fringed darkness
the purposeful spoiling of her likeness
closest to us yet bloody and foul
and creatured, spinning red out of control
the flat crimson desiring all white become her
red nodding into the darkness of a sad
unsubtle erasing through a torn black veil
8th September, deep night, after witnessing the blood moon
Response Poetry By Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
红栖息于我体内，在万物洁白的核心闪亮
red residing in me at the white core of everything shiny
红以疑惑的赤焰之花装点我的脸庞
燃烧着沉思的红与滑动的大地
红披戴着殷红的托词，如同红手套
一夜嫣红与羞赧，由表及里，皆是羞赧
红将我们悬于她的朱镜之中
将我们囚于丹红流苏的黑暗
刻意损毁她最亲近的摹本
最近乎于我们，却血腥而污秽
如同兽类，将红旋转到失控的境地
单调的猩红渴望一切洁白都化作她自身
红颔首没入悲伤的黑暗
透过撕裂的黑纱，粗暴而拙劣地抹除
九月八日，深夜，目睹血月之后
“The red-marked Chinese characters are various synonyms for different shades of red. I translated your various REDs with slightly different synonyms to create subtle and rich meanings, avoiding monotony” Ma Yongbo 马永波 writing to Helen Pletts海伦·普莱茨, 16th September 2025
Amber Pletts is a UK based artist and illustrator. Her work is often inspired by folklore and mythology, and she has produced numerous illustrations for poetry publications. Most recently she has been working in the Cambridge Botanic Garden on the Botanical Hues project, producing natural dyes and inks sourced from the garden’s extensive collection of flora.
Image: Amber Pletts, 2024
Specific photographic images/graphic art under individual copyright © to either Ma Yongbo 马永波 or Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨 or Amber Pletts
.