This poem was originally composed in Chinese and has been translated into English by the translator, Yan Li.
A very large gear
Jacko and his friends
Plan to visit
That metal recycling plant
It’s just one
Among many
Recycling plants in
This city
Crossing a railway track that runs through the city
At nine in the morning
They all saw in the factory area
The huge gear leaning to one side
On the central pathway, and
The many irregular
Steel plates beneath it
Triangles, and
Trapezoids
That huge
Gear
Already entirely
Rusty
Jacko felt
Its hardness and a kind of
Loneliness
In the distance
Neatly stacked
Paint cans
In the sunlight
Only they
Showed no trace of reddish rust
Each presenting a striking
Color
On the ground, there’s autumn sunlight
Grass, and
Factory buildings
Countless metal objects, and
Them and their shadows
The return journey is very
Long
Jacko alone savored
The scenery of that factory area
And the
Hardness
Of that huge
Gear
He seemed to remember something
A kind of
Lonely feeling
His friends
Silent beside him
Also seemed
To be saying
Something else
The road
Seems
Very long