The Wheels, the Wheels
Time rolls out a scroll of a few strokes
Spring and autumn slant to history
The self advances toward delusion
Ten thousand things advance to enlightenment
What will trickle, what will drill through
Traveling in the feathering bluebirds
Life departs the face
Genealogy begins to pray
In the new vernacular
In the aviary of
Reprinted with permission from The Orange Tree by Dong Li, published by the University of Chicago Press. © 2023 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
Dong Li
Dong Li is a multilingual author who translates from Chinese, English, French, and German. Born and raised in China, he was educated at Deep Springs College and Brown University.
Li is the author of The Orange Tree (University of Chicago Press, 2023).
He is the recipient of a PEN/Heim Translation Grant and fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Ledig House Translation Lab, Henry Luce Foundation/Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo.