GU CHENG(1956-1993)
       
No matter how many
beautiful poems
that speak
meaningfully of existence
one reads from him,
no matter the circumstances
of exile,
one can't ever
forget the axe.
   
With it
he gave his poems
iron shackles
he never wore himself,
bound the poems with it
to an act
which never lets them
rise free as art.
The axe is always there.

Abridged and edited version, written originally 16.10.2009.