Passing Through the River of Time

For the sculptor Zhang Deli

That’s me!That’s me at a stage I never leftThat’s my youth—like a birdthat miraculously reappeared after a long timewhen I didn’t know where it had goneThose are my eyes—a clean sky!That’s my gaze—filled with happiness!That’s my curly hair—free waves!That’s my forehead—so young and confident!That’s my mouth—having kissed a People’s mountains and landand whispered beautiful lines of poetryinto a young woman’s earThat’s my cape of woven woolMy father said: Those are eagle wings!That’s my hero’s sash on my chestMy mother said: It predicted your tomorrows and your future!That’s me! That’s definitely me!You used magic hands to pass through time’s riverFirmly—firmlygrabbing hold of me at eighteen years old!