1 Poem by Liang Zhihua

The Woodpecker

I am a woodpecker

And countless are the worms in the forest

My pointed beak has been blunted

Still there are so many worms to be pecked

Stealthily, the gunpoint of a hunter has been pointed at me

Since my blunted beak fails to catch worms in the wood

I will change my profession to write poems

Which are to replace the beak of the woodpecker

Regardless of whether there is a gun

Aiming at me secretly or openly

啄木鸟

我是一只啄木鸟

而树林中的蛀虫是那样多

我已磨秃尖嘴

也未能把蛀虫啄尽

暗地里，已有猎人的枪口对我瞄准

秃嘴啄不了木头里的蛀虫

那就改行写诗吧

让诗代替啄木鸟的尖嘴

甭管明里暗里

有没有枪口对我瞄准

About the author:

Liang Zhihua (1922— ), his ancestral place is Haicheng City of Liaoning Province, and he was born in Wuxi City of Jiangsu Province. He was graduated from the Law Department of Peking University in 1948, and after 1949, he has been a teacher and translator. In 1961, he has been expatriated to the countryside of Haicheng. He is now a retired teacher of English at Haicheng Senior Middle School. HaiHaiis main works include poem collections such as The Retribution of Qin Shihuang, and Bloody Accusation, etc.

                                                      （Tr. by Zhang Zhizhong）

作者简介：

梁质华（1922— ），祖籍辽宁省海城市，生于江苏无锡。1948年毕业于北京大学法律系。1949年后，曾任文化教员、英语翻译。1961年被遣送回海城农村。现为海城市高级中学退休英语教师。主要作品有：诗集《秦始皇的报应》、《血泪的控诉》等。