Situation

by Hou Ma
     trs. by Wang Ping

At a bar in Beijing
I asked the poet Mang Ke if he was still writing
He replied: is our situation changed?
Years went by
I was older, like Mang Ke
I felt more at ease for not writing
Even a bit proud of myself
Then I bumped into Yi Sha, another poet
Who just got his job back
As poetry editor
I knew I must now march with all I had
For the new poetry destiny
Ten years went by
I’ve been writing daily
It has been my own Noah’s ark
To stay alive