Clock With Blue Wing (La Pendule à l’aile bleue) Marc CHAGALL 1949,
oil and india ink on canvas, 92 x 79 cm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Chagall
Chagall was able to convey striking images using only two or three colours. “Chagall is unrivalled in this ability to give a vivid impression of explosive movement with the simplest use of colours…” Throughout his life his colours created a “vibrant atmosphere” which was based on “his own personal vision.” Raymond Cogniat (14 April 1896 – 20 February 1977) was a French art critic, journalist, historian of art and expert on theatre design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Cogniat
Every Year 每一年
Every year, the stars set out anew into the cold and dark.
Every year, their cries freeze midair, like white snares.
Skaters on the pond at the forest’s edge always carve silver rings,
Intertwined, encircling a collapsing centre that grows darker.
Every year, someone always clips obituaries from the newspaper, postponing the news.
Every year, you always want to put an end to everything.
but things are always halfway between new and old.
You are always forced to wrestle with the statue on the cross,
you think you’ve nailed it down completely,
yet every year, it always struggles to resurrect
like a garment descending from the sky, wrapping you again.
That grey, icy hood snaps behind your head,
yearning for the warm, white thoughts within your bones.
Every year, the train always arrives at the same desolate station,
barely maintaining operations, with a stationmaster dozing like a dim wind lamp.
You cannot die, nor can you live, wavering between the two.
Every year, the stars always are the universe’s final nails.
Every year, you are condemned anew, without any charge or trial.
January 27, 2025
Response Poetry by Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
每一年 Every Year
每一年，星星都重新向寒冷和黑暗出发
每一年，它们的呼喊都像白色的圈套冻结在空中
树林边池塘上的滑冰者，总是画出大大小小的银色圆环
交织着，围绕着一个逐渐变黑的坍塌的中心
每一年，总有人把报纸上的讣告抠下去，推迟着消息
每一年，你都想把一切彻底了结
可是事物总是半新不旧
你总是必须继续和十字架上的雕像搏斗
你以为已经彻底钉死了它
可是每一年，它都挣扎着复活
像一件衣服从天而降，把你重新包裹
那灰色冰冷的兜帽，在你脑后咔哒直响
渴望着你骨头后面温暖的白色的思想
每一年，列车抵达的总是同样冷清的车站
勉强维持着运营，站长昏昏欲睡如一盏昏黄的风灯
你无法死去，又无法活着，你在两者之间犹豫
每一年，星星总是宇宙的最后一把钉子
每一年，你都被重新定罪，又没有任何罪名和审判
2025年1月27日
马永波
every year, and even further 每年，甚至更进一步
night turns in, leaning towards a clock face that remembers you
just as you remember yourself facing it, nodding towards the open window
and a thousand tiny moments become airborne,
there is no sound of ticking only static.
A polythene bag caught on a lamppost
combines with night air to become luminous and purposeful
and just when the clock reaches midnight
the bag rises like the head of an imposter straining to see into a darker night
27th December 2025
Response Poetry By Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
每年，甚至更进一步every year, and even further
夜转身就寝，倚向一个记得你的钟面
正如你记得自己面对它，朝敞开的窗户点头
一千个微小的瞬间就此飞升
没有滴答声，只有静电
一只塑料袋挂在路灯柱上
与夜风交融，变得发光而充满目的
就当时钟指向午夜的那一刻
塑料袋升起，像冒名者的脑袋，竭力望向更深的夜
2025年12月27日
海伦·普莱茨
Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨 Cambridge, UK, and Ma Yongbo 马永波, Harbin, China, Planet Earth, The Universe
Helen Pletts www.helenpletts.com is a British poet based in Cambridge. She is the English co-translator of Chinese poet Ma Yongbo. She is a committee member of CB1 Poetry. Her work is translated into Chinese, Bangla, Greek, Vietnamese, Serbian, Korean, Arabic, Italian, Albanian and Romanian.
Border Conversations, bilingual poetry book by Nolcha Fox 诺尔查·福克斯 and Ma Yongbo 马永波
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of my dear friend Nolcha, this bilingual collection, Border Conversations, has finally been published by Ukiyoto
https://www.ukiyoto.com/product-page/border-conversations “ Ma Yongbo 马永波, December 2025
https://www.amazon.com/Border-Conversations-Collaborative-English-Chinese/dp/9353536596/
Although they live in two countries, poetry is the bridge that brought Yongbo and Nolcha together.
What Nolcha treasures about “Border Conversations” is working with such a fantastic poet and amazing person, and the message that, no matter where we live, we have more in common than we realise.
“What a wonderful book!! In “Border Conversations,” the reader is treated to poems that feel like intimate conversations on a wide range of subjects. This is not a quick read. It’s one to be savoured slowly, poem by poem. What an enjoyable collection!! Highly recommended.”
– Laura Stamps, author of “Doggie Haiku”
“This odd marriage of poems by two highly creative and greatly respected individuals may sound crazy, but it really makes all the sense in the world. These poems have no boundaries and no borders. They just are.”
- John Yamrus, author of ” Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Just Give Him a Good Place to Hide”.
“This book is invaluable for both poetry lovers and translators. For the former, it offers a selection of works by two highly distinctive contemporary poets. I personally find the interesting differences between the two authors in terms of theme and imagery quite apparent. For the latter, it provides insights into how outstanding poets and translators strive to present the “untranslatable” in another language.” (Rong Guangqi, poet, professor)
无论对于喜欢诗歌还是翻译的读者，这本书都是宝贵的。对于前者而言，我们能读到二位非常有风格的当代诗人的精选之作。我个人在其中能明显看到两位作者在主题和意象上的有趣的差别；对于后者而言，我们可以学习到杰出的诗人翻译家是如何将“不可译”的诗，努力呈现在另一种语言中。（荣光启，诗人，教授）
‘Border Conversations’ is a unique combination, seemingly stylistically different yet richly interconnected. It’s a cross-cultural exchange of affection for nature and life, and philosophical reflections, possessing both surging passion and profound calm. Nolcha’s writing has the refined beauty of classical Chinese poetry—sometimes fresh and concise, sometimes melancholic and deep—all insightful and harmoniously blending the human experience with the external world. Yongbo’s poetry explores ancient treasures while pioneering modern trends, rooted in the fertile soil of the Chinese language and absorbing the gems of foreign cultures. Such writing is worth anticipating.” Yang Yujun, poet, translator
《边界谈话》 是一份奇异的组合，看似不同风格，却有内在丰富的联结。是对自然和生命依恋和哲思的隔空交汇，有喷薄的热度，也有沉潜的冷静。诺尔查的文字有中国古诗精炼之美，或清新简洁，或郁结深沉，都能见微知著，物我相宜。永波的诗则探索远古矿藏，又开辟现代风尚，既植根汉语沃土，又吸取异邦华宝，这样的文字值得期待。（杨于军，诗人，翻译家）
Nolcha Fox 诺尔查·福克斯, USA
Nolcha Fox’s 诺尔查·福克斯 poems have been curated in print and online journals. Her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominee for 2023, 2024, and 2025 Best of The Net. Nominee for 2023 and 2024 Pushcart Prize. Editor of Chewers by Masticadores. Co-Poetry Editor of LatinosUSA.
Website: https://writingaddiction2.wordpress.com/
https://nolchafox2.wixsite.com/nolcha-s-written-wor/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox/
Ma Yongbo 马永波 is a Ph.D, representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry, and a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry. He has published over 80 original works and translations since 1986, including 6 poetry collections. He focuses on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose, including the work of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams, and Ashbery. He recently published a complete translation of Moby Dick, which sold over half a million copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
“The Collected Poems of Ma Yongbo 马永波” (4 volumes, Eastern Publishing Centre, 2024) includes 1178 poems, and celebrates 40 years of writing poetry.
Ma Yongbo’s poetry in both English and Chinese is also published regularly by the American website Vox Populi:
‘Vox Populi publishes approximately 740 new posts each year. Here are the ten most popular that were published in 2025; notice all ten are poems” Michael Simms, Editor, Vox Populi. Ma Yongbo’s poetry is among these ten:
LINK8
https://voxpopulisphere.com/2025/12/31/vox-populi-the-most-popular-posts-of-2025/
Michael Simms is an esteemed American poet, novelist, essayist, editor, and literary activist whose work captures the intricacies of the human experience with grace and insight. Known for its precise language and poignant imagery, his poems show the intersections of nature, family, and the passage of time, reflecting a deep awareness of life’s fragility and resilience and offering readers a lens through which to examine their own lives and surroundings. In addition to his poetry, Simms is a prominent figure in the literary world as the Founding Editor Emeritus of Autumn House Press and the Founding Editor of Vox Populi Sphere, nonprofit publishers that champion emerging and underrepresented voices in literature. Simms’s poetry collections, including Jubal Rising, showcase his mastery of lyricism and narrative, blending personal reflection with broader societal themes. Through his writing and his tireless advocacy for literature, Michael Simms continues to leave an indelible mark on contemporary American poetry and publishing.
LINK9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Simms_(publisher)
Michael Simms, Editor, Vox Populi
Ma Yongbo 马永波, Nanjing, China
Two poems, in English and Chinese, by Nolcha and Yongbo from ‘Border Conversations’:
To Think Like Winter
If I had a winter mind,
my inner clock would
slowly pace two minutes
for a second’s grace
to watch a bird’s flight
shatter clouds and moan
a mournful ode to spring.
By Nolcha Fox 诺尔查·福克斯
Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
像冬天一样思考
如果我有冬天的心境，
我的内在时钟
就会走慢两分，
等待一秒钟的宽限，
看一只飞鸟翱翔
打破云层，呻吟着
一首哀伤的春天颂歌。
Looking for Father
My mother passed away in the summer.
I was at sea in the summer.
The waves of freedom were endlessly spreading towards the horizon.
Butterflies travelled with the ship, often landing on the ship’s side.
After a long time, I returned to land.
My brothers and sisters were busy packing our luggage.
They didn’t tell me where we were going.
I guessed the misfortune from their evasive words.
My father, who didn’t know how to live, was not with them.
He stayed alone in another place,
no fire, no lights, no words.
Through the swaying darkness, I saw him standing
in front of the cabinet with the red paint worn off.
That was the only thing my parents had when they got married.
My father was as quiet as an old piece of furniture.
I want to set out again to find my father,
but I don’t know where to go.
I don’t know where I am.
It’s another muddy, slightly cold, deserted dusk,
and the poplars are rustling.
Standing in the darkness, I suddenly remember.
My father passed away six years earlier than my mother,
and my mother has been dead for a full twenty years.
By Ma Yongbo 马永波
Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
寻找父亲
夏天的时候，我的母亲亡故了
夏天我在海上
自由的浪花无尽地开向天涯
蝴蝶随船旅行，时时停在船舷
很久以后我回到陆地
哥姐们正在忙乱，打点行装
他们不向我透露要去哪里
我从他们躲闪的语言中猜出了不幸
不会生活的父亲没有和他们在一起
孤单地留在另一个地方
不生火，不开灯，不说话
隔着晃动的黑暗，我看见他站在
磨掉了红油漆的柜子前
那是父母结婚时仅有的东西
父亲静得像一件旧家具
我要再次出发去寻找父亲
可我不知道要去哪里
也不知道自己在哪里
又是泥泞微寒阒无人迹的黄昏
白杨瑟瑟有声
站在黑暗中，我猛地想起
我的父亲早于母亲六年离开了人世
而我的母亲已故去整整二十个春秋
马永波
All images under individual copyright © to either Nolcha Fox, 诺尔查·福克斯, Ma Yongbo 马永波 or Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
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