Original Graphic Art ‘Rain as our Ally’ specially created by Amber Pletts 28th March 2025
for Ma Yongbo and Helen Pletts’ Response Poetry.
“Spring rain is so consoling” — Ma Yongbo 21st March 2025
rain is like the continuous feet of silver threads marching;
her simple persistence will caress and love us.
In the darkness echoes have hearts of steel.
—we steal ourselves, for the longest journey
is often made down a shiny, dark street.
Out of the darkness, a white shape is looming
towards us like a great white boat, the poet’s ego
has left the nest; drifting like a beautiful goose ghost;
the rain alters her sequence, but she still spits downwards
and the rain runs off his blank feathers in jewels
22nd March 2025
Response Poetry By Helen Pletts 海伦•普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated By Ma Yongbo 马永波
我们把雨视为盟友——致马永波 海伦•普莱茨 in which we speak of the rain as an ally — for Ma Yongbo
春雨如此慰藉——马永波 2025年3月21日）
雨如银线连绵不绝的脚步行进；
她朴素的坚持会抚慰和爱护我们。
黑暗中的回声有着钢铁之心。
——我们隐匿自我，因为最长的旅程
往往是在闪亮、漆黑的街道。
黑暗中，一个白色形体隐隐出现
如大船迎面而来，诗人的自我
已离开巢穴；漂游如野鹅的幽灵；
雨改变了顺序，却仍在向下倾泻
在他空白的羽毛上流淌，化作珠宝
We Take the Rain as Our Ally — In Response to Helen Pletts 我们把雨视为盟友——答海伦•普莱茨
All these years, the rain keeps falling in the darkness
all these years, I repeat this line
as if the same rain keeps falling repeatedly
I move through gaps in the rain curtains
on streets flickering between light and shadow
as if I’ve been walking like this all along
In this persistent rain over the years, even steel sprouts
piercing all unfinished alliance treaties
you and I, wearing raincoats inside out, meet on every street
exchanging fingerprints under the vast silver screen of silent films
inventing a new grammar, letting it ignite like cigarettes
lighting up our pale handsome faces
like two young resistance fighters during occupation
Evening of March 22, 2025
Response Poetry By Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated By Ma Yongbo 马永波 and Helen Pletts 海伦•普莱茨
我们把雨视为盟友——答海伦•普莱茨 We Take the Rain as Our Ally — In Response to Helen Pletts 马永波
多少年，雨总是在黑暗中落下
多少年，我重复着这个句子
仿佛同一场雨反复落下
我穿过雨幕的间隙行进
在忽明忽暗的街道
仿佛我一直在这样走着
在这样持续经年的雨中，钢铁也会发芽
穿透所有未完成的同盟条约
我和你，反穿雨衣，在每一条街道上相遇
交换指纹，在巨大的默片银幕下
发明一种新的语法，让它像烟头依次照亮
我们苍白而英俊的脸
像占领时期两个年轻的抵抗战士
2025年3月22日傍晚
Photograph: Ma Yongbo 马永波 24th May 2024, Nanjing, China
“How do your personal experiences influence your writing?
Writing material stems from genuine emotions and experiences. Indirect experiences (such as inspiration from reading) must merge with direct experiences. Some of my poetry records real-life events in the plainest language, stripped of literary embellishments like symbolism, metaphor, tension, or irony. Instead, I confront facts nakedly, preserving the raw texture of life through objective documentation. Personal experiences always reflect the broader era and society. Overly rhetorical poetry distorts and abstracts reality.
Can you tell us about your latest work? What message do you hope readers take from it?
My recent works since 2024 include response or same-title poems with British poetess Helen Pletts. These may not fully represent my poetic ideals—there’s an element of friendship—but their significance lies in reviving the ancient Chinese tradition of poetic exchanges, albeit through modern and postmodern techniques. These poems are rainbow bridges between poets of different languages, proving poetry’s power to transcend the Tower of Babel and achieve human unity and peace—a meaning that surpasses poetry itself.
Meanwhile, I’ve been working on a cross-genre book titled POUND CANTOS or VITA NUOVA. It remains an attempt to overcome cultural barriers and facilitate East-West dialogue, blending Chinese and Western poetic forms, dramatic fragments, philosophical meditations, and autobiography. It defies categorisation—traditional line poetry can no longer contain my materials and ideas.”
Excerpt from https://sindhcourier.com/chinese-scholar-ma-yongbo-says-global-trends-dominate-chinese-literature/
https://mayongbopoetry.wordpress.com/
Photograph: Helen Pletts 海伦•普莱茨 21st May 2024, Cambridge, UK
“3. **Experimental Bilingual Mutual Translation**
Their co-authored *Bilingual Poetry Collection of Helen Pletts and Ma Yongbo* (2025) pioneers a “poetic dialogue” model. For instance, in Mid-Autumn Festival-themed exchanges, Pletts’ English verses and Ma’s Chinese responses create intertextuality, transcending unilateral translation to forge a “rainbow of minds” across linguistic boundaries.
4. **Conclusion and Future Prospects**
The Chinese translations of Helen Pletts’ poetry exemplify the rich potential of cross-cultural poetic dialogue. Their success stems from the translators’ bilingual expertise and innovative collaboration, yet they also underscore the enduring challenges of cultural and linguistic boundaries.”
from DEEP SEEK The analysis of the Chinese translations of British poet Helen Pletts’ poetryhttps://www.sohu.com/a/871366731_121124793
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.
Amber Pletts, 2024
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