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He Sun

Forged in Poetry and Fire

What is a symbol? Across He Sun’s writing practice, this question is made again and again, but never answered. The clouds in a childhood dream, the twin movements of the Moon and the Sun, the shadow of a lover. It seems that every sign she describes is both a simple object in her daily life and the part of an enigmatic prophecy. It’s this special relationship with her surroundings that morph her poems in a vibrant dialogue with the unknown.

今年冬天,没有人给我写信
除了天空每天寄来一些云朵
这些遥远的信件
嘱托我
好好做一个动物,把善意撒向人间
按时吃饭,按时睡觉,必要时
可以做梦,哭泣,寻找爱情
我每天认真的拆掉信件
诚恳的使用双脚和双手
在每个黄昏我经过一座意大利的广场
我想给上帝回信
我很好,偶尔失落,但大致我很幸福
从不消失,身体茁壮
太阳强烈时,我不胆怯地接受,勇于奉献
雨水强烈时,我尽量不使自己的心灵潮湿
我想和你说
我很好
和那些破碎的泡泡一样好
和那些飞往南方的鸟群一样好
和下午露着肚皮晒太阳的水獭一

和平原上凌晨到达的草尖上的露珠一样好
每个黄昏我经过意大利的广场
我都这样想
上帝,请你看见我
请你看见我们
每个黄昏,我这颗跳动的心
就是写给上帝的回信

    No one wrote me a letter this winter
Except for the sky sending clouds every day
These distant letters
Entrusting me to myself
    Be a good animal, spread kindness to the world
Eat on time, sleep on time, and when necessary
You can dream, cry and look for love
Every day I carefully open these letters
With truth in my hands, in my feet
    When it’s dusk, walking through this Italian square
I want to write back to God
That I’m fine, sometimes lost, often happy
Never vanished, with my tough body
When the sun is strong, I accept without shyness and give eagerly
When the rain is strong, I try to keep my heart dry
I want to reply to you I am fine
Fine as those bursting bubbles
Fine as those flocks of birds flying south
Fine as an otter – its belly exposed in the afternoon sun
Fine as a dewdrop on a blade of grass, in the field, early morning 
    Every evening I walk through the Italian squares
Thinking like this
God, please
Please see me
Please see us
Every evening, my beating heart
Is a letter to God in reply

十年前,我抬头看见黑云层层围绕下的月亮,那时候某种强烈的意志告诉我:这个世界或许是一口井;
后来也曾看见云压着头顶上的天空,云层诡异的追逐着我,我没命的光着脚在草地上奔跑,一边跑一边回头看着云,
觉得它会抓住我,最后我精疲力尽的躺在地上,
庆幸着它到底没有将我给吞噬,又憎恨它将人关在地上,为了不让我们逃离这个星球,剥夺了人类飞向月亮的翅膀。
我有诗和火铸成的童年,充满不切实际的噩梦。
长大后我很想告诉别人那是怎样的一种感动

    Ten years ago, I rose my eyes and saw the moon beyond layers of black clouds. In that moment, a strong perception confessed me that the world might be like a well. Later I saw the same clouds pushing against the sky above my head, chasing me strangely, as I was running desperately on the grass with bare feet, watching my back, sprinting, sure they would catch me. Finally I laid exhausted on the ground, glad that in the end they did not manage to swallow me up. I hated them for keeping people grounded, deprived of wings to fly and reach the moon. I hated them for preventing us from escaping our planet.
    I had a childhood forged in poetry and fire, full of improbable nightmares. Growing up, I wanted to tell others how moving it was.

树木倒立的影子与我重叠
身体里的雨季
但没有雷声
我,呼唤,你的,降临
桂花香是我的乡愁
我赤裸的天真扬起船帆
鼓膜里的风铃
响了一下午

    The inverted tree shadows overlap with me
A rainy season in the body
But no thunder
    I – call – your – descent
The fragrance of osmanthus is my nostalgia
My naked innocence raising the sails
The wind chimes within my eardrum
Ringing all afternoon long.

你身边有一道抽象的光
让时间的曲线更加曲折
你是情欲之岛,一个无辜的阴谋
我的惶恐
我的悲伤
我的愚蠢
还有我的果皮
我想和你一起浪费时间。
当我无聊时。 我在你睫毛上跳芭蕾
当我累了,我就睡在你的掌心

    There is an abstract light around you
Making the curve of time more tortuous
You are the island of lust, an innocent conspiracy
My fear,
My sorrow,
My folly,
And my rind.
    I want to waste time with you.
When I am bored, I do ballet on your eyelashes
When I am tired, I fall asleep in your palm.

Text by He Sun

Born in Jlin, the northern chinese province on the border with Russia and North Korea, raised in Beijing and based in Milan since 2019, where she is studying contemporary Italian literature, while working as an author and a model.

Reading by He Sun.
Video by Ruben Spini.


Ultravioletto is a newborn publishing house devoted to writing practices beyond the visible spectrum, blossomed outside the publishing market through mystery, manners, and make believe. Original poems and purple prose from a different author every month, with parallel traduction and video format.