An endless ballroom

Author: Shi Nu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This collection is the leading figure of the cultural forum "Modern Poetry." Profound, wise, humble, and reverent awareness. Calm and solid, free and composed, the quality of poetry and thought. Read slowly to appreciate the charm of modern Chinese.
Content: It is hidden in the middle level of a high-rise building, that middle position that is neither high nor low, like a disheveled veteran of the love game, or like a high-ranking courtesan whose status is declining. It maintains an inseparable connection with the upper echelons while offering a glimmer of hope to the lower levels. Its neon lights, like others, never shine in a ritual but rather like the glances cast by a beauty seated on stage at a ceremony toward a fresh-faced youth in the audience. What I refer to as the ritual mainly pertains to the process that signifies the scene, always carrying a sense of secrecy. Thus, when looking up from below, people can hardly discern its true face.