Original Graphic Art ‘Rain as our Ally’ specially created by Amber Pletts 28th March 2025
for Ma Yongbo and Helen Pletts’ Response Poetry.
in which we speak of the rain as an ally
我们把雨视为盟友
“Spring rain is so consoling” — Ma Yongbo 21st March 2025
rain is like the continuous feet of silver threads marching;
her simple persistence will caress and love us.
In the darkness echoes have hearts of steel.
—we steal ourselves, for the longest journey
is often made down a shiny, dark street.
Out of the darkness, a white shape is looming
towards us like a great white boat, the poet’s ego
has left the nest; drifting like a beautiful goose ghost;
the rain alters her sequence, but she still spits downwards
and the rain runs off his blank feathers in jewels
22nd March 2025
Response Poetry By Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨 for Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
我们把雨视为盟友
in which we speak of the rain as an ally
（春雨如此慰藉——马永波2025年3月21日）
雨如银线连绵不绝的脚步行进；
她朴素的坚持会抚慰和爱护我们。
黑暗中的回声有着钢铁之心。
——我们隐匿自我，因为最长的旅程
往往是在闪亮、漆黑的街道。
黑暗中，一个白色形体隐隐出现
如大船迎面而来，诗人的自我
已离开巢穴；漂游如野鹅的幽灵；
雨改变了顺序，却仍在向下倾泻
在他空白的羽毛上流淌，化作珠宝
2025年3月22日
We Take the Rain as Our Ally—in response to Helen
我们把雨视为盟友——答海伦
All these years, the rain keeps falling in the darkness
all these years, I repeat this line
as if the same rain keeps falling repeatedly
I move through gaps in the rain curtains
on streets flickering between light and shadow
as if I’ve been walking like this all along
In this rain persistent over the years, even steel sprouts
piercing all unfinished alliance treaties
you and I, wearing raincoats inside out, meet on every street
exchanging fingerprints under the vast silver screen of silent films
inventing a new grammar, letting it ignite like cigarettes
lighting up our pale handsome faces
like two young resistance fighters during occupation
Evening of 22nd March 2025
Response Poetry by Ma Yongbo 马永波 for Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
我们把雨视为盟友——答海伦
We Take the Rain as Our Ally—in response to Helen
多少年，雨总是在黑暗中落下
多少年，我重复着这个句子
仿佛同一场雨反复落下
我穿过雨幕的间隙行进
在忽明忽暗的街道
仿佛我一直在这样走着
在这样持续经年的雨中，钢铁也会发芽
穿透所有未完成的同盟条约
我和你，反穿雨衣，在每一条街道上相遇
交换指纹，在巨大的默片银幕下
发明一种新的语法，让它像烟头依次照亮
我们苍白而英俊的脸
像占领时期两个年轻的抵抗战士
2025年3月22日傍晚
First published by International Times.IT 5th April 2025
in which we speak of the rain as an ally — for Ma Yongbo 我们把雨视为盟友——致马永波 海伦•普莱茨 | IT
TWO
Catamaran—A Birthday Poem for Helen Pletts
双体船——给海伦·普莱茨的生日诗
A year has passed, and your birthday falls in the cold of early spring，
on this day, we meet in the darkness of the Seven Seas
two small boats light their undying lanterns for one another.
We converse across an abyss, yet almost without any distance.
Our words are lotuses blooming in the night,
drifting back and forth between us, in their hearts
sleeps a baby named Peace.
Often we need to say nothing at all,
we pause our paddles, listening to the flow of water,
listening to the call that comes from a shared source—
“To restore an ancient language, an art on the brink of extinction!”
So you raise a white sail, like a dove’s wing,
so I spread a black sail, like a swift’s wing.
Our keels endure the capricious changes above the Seven Seas.
And thus, like the shifting of day and night,
Our twin-hull boat of poetry withstands the storm and exile,
Finally arriving at that eternal shore, the homeland of rainbows.
February 12, 2025
Response Poetry by Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
双体船——给海伦·普莱茨的生日诗
Catamaran—A Birthday Poem for Helen Pletts
一年过去了，你的生日在寒冷的早春，这一天
我们相遇在七海之上的茫茫黑暗之中
两条小船为彼此亮起了不灭的灯盏
我们隔着深渊交谈，却又几乎没有任何间隔
我们的话语是黑夜中绽放的莲花
在我们之间来回漂移，花心里
睡着一个叫做和平的婴儿
时常我们不需要说什么，我们
停下手中的桨，倾听水的流逝
倾听从一个共同的源头传来的召唤——
“要恢复一门古老的语言，一门接近失传的艺术！”
于是，你撑起一面白帆，像鸽子的翅膀
而我张开一面黑帆，像雨燕的翅膀
我们的龙骨经受住了七海之上的变幻无常
就这样，两个翅膀如同昼夜交替
我们诗的双体船，抗住了风暴与流亡
终于抵达了那永恒的边岸，彩虹的故乡
2025年2月12日晨
when the sea is calmer than the stilled thoughts of two
—with permitted dashes—Helen’s birthday poem thank you for Yongbo
当海洋比两人静止的思绪更为平静时
——允许使用破折号——海伦的生日诗，向永波致谢
when the sea is calmer than the stilled thoughts of two,
we take up our paddles and point them towards the harbour.
The rainbows flicker like colours in black oil on the water;
a black you as a still swift’s call, calling to white me as a wavy dove’s sail,
and the sail is also a curved white ear that hears you calling.
And breeze carries the song gently in her cupped hands
around our softness and feathers — smoothing the sea for the little boat;
rainbow colours racing their iridescence towards land before us
12th February 2025, very late at night
Response Poetry by Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
当海洋比两人静止的思绪更为平静时
——允许使用破折号——海伦的生日诗，向永波致谢
when the sea is calmer than the stilled thoughts of two
—with permitted dashes—Helen’s birthday poem thank you for Yongbo
当海洋比两人平静的思绪更为平静时，
我们拿起自己的浆，指向港口。
彩虹像黑油中的色彩在水面上闪烁；
一片黑色如雨燕，呼唤白色的我，如波动的鸽帆，
那帆也是一只弯弯的白色耳朵，聆听着你的呼唤。
微风轻轻地将歌声捧在她的双手中
围绕着我们的柔软和羽翼——为小船抚平海洋；
彩虹以绚烂的色彩竞相奔向我们前方的陆地。
2025年2月12日，深夜
First published by International Times.IT 22nd February 2025
Catamaran—A Birthday Poem for Helen Pletts 双体船——给海伦·普莱茨的⽣ ⽇诗 | IT
THREE
When I discover winter 当我发现冬天时
When I discover winter, it has already been seen many times,
like a little grey car appearing then reappearing
on the same tree lined road. The trees are dipped in white
and radiate in the headlights at night.
I discover the axes of ice, I tip them from the stone birdbaths
onto the ground, where they try to take my toes.
In Prague, I slide helplessly across the pavements,
grasping the coats of strangers, and they in turn grasping at mine
and grasping at every fence and railing;
black ice in a black and glistening mirror refuses to be held.
Unstoppable strange white faces; gliding towards you
like white lamplight across a dark river.
24th January 2025
Response Poetry by Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨 for Ma Yongbo 马永波
当我发现冬天时When I discover winter
当我发现冬天时，它已经被目睹过很多次了，
像一辆灰色的小汽车出现又消失
在同一条林荫大道。树木沉浸在白色中
在夜晚的头灯中辐射出来。
我发现了冰的斧头，我把它们从石头鸟盆里
倾倒在地上，在那里，它们试图带走我的大脚趾。
在布拉格，我无助地在人行道上滑行，
抓着陌生人的外套，他们反过来也抓住我
抓住每一根篱笆和栏杆；
黑色的冰在一面闪耀的黑镜中拒绝被掌控。
不可阻挡的陌生白脸；向你滑过来
像白色的灯穿过一条黑色的河流。
2025年1月24日
When I discover winter 当我发现冬天时
When you discover winter, it has already melted and refrozen countless times,
like faint breath on a windowpane.
The thawed road glistens, silver knife-fish lying on stones,
manhole covers’ steaming round sunken eyes.
Trees at dusk shed their luminous burdens.
Ice cracks underfoot, the sudden loss of balance echoes,
sending tremors from the soles to the hollow bird’s nest above.
In Harbin, strangers balance like penguins,
limbs flailing, synchronised with ice and laughter that means no harm.
The river wears a numbed mask, like a failed assassin,
each pale face a reflection, gliding by one after another,
detached from its swollen body, ahead of several swiftly tilting railings.
24th January 2025
Response Poetry by Ma Yongbo 马永波 for Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
当我发现冬天时 When I discover winter
当你发现冬天时，它已经融化与结冻无数次了，
就像窗玻璃上微弱的呼吸。
解冻的道路闪闪发光，银色的刀鱼躺在石头上，
井盖的圆眼睛冒出热气，凹陷，
黄昏的树木摆脱了它们明亮的负担。
脚下的冰开裂，突然失去立足点的声音，
将颤抖从脚底向上传送到空空的鸟巢。
在哈尔滨，陌生人像企鹅一般保持着平衡，
四肢舞动，与冰雪和并无恶意的笑声同步。
河流戴着麻木的面具，像一个失败的刺客，
每一张苍白的脸都是一个倒影，纷纷滑过，
脱离臃肿的身体，领先若干个迅速倾斜的栏杆的距离。
2025年1月24日
FOUR
autumn ebbs forwards 秋天退潮了
like edge of a cold tide. I leave
the warmth of bed for the shivering stairs.
Autumn moving through the house
like a silent spider, checking its legs
around the doorways before entering.
The garden alert in the cool air,
fixes the stillness in steaming dew.
7th September 2024, by Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨 for Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
秋天退潮了autumn ebbs forwards
像寒流的边缘。我离开
温暖的床，走向颤抖的楼梯。
秋天穿过房子
像一只沉默的蜘蛛，检查着自己的腿
在门口附近，在进入之前。
凉爽的空气让花园警醒，
静止在蒸腾的露水里。
2024年9月7日
Autumn Ebbs Forwards 秋天退潮了
Trailing layers of skirts. You leave
the stiffened books for the cold doorway.
A sense of foreboding slips into the house,
like a quiet cat, moving through each room,
hovering beneath every windowsill, sharpening its claws
waiting silently for the moment the moon passes through the walls.
The empty courtyard opens towards the fields,
you will stop at the door, listening to the rustling sound drawing nearer.
February 3, 2025, by Ma Yongbo 马永波 for Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
秋天退潮了Autumn Ebbs Forwards
拖曳着层叠的裙裾。你放下
变得僵硬的书卷，走向冰冷的门口。
一种预感潜入房子里
像沉静的猫，穿过每一个房间，
在每个窗台下徘徊，磨砺它的脚爪
静静地等候月亮穿墙而过的时刻。
空荡的庭院向田野敞开
你将在门口止步，谛听那渐渐逼近的沙沙之声
2025年2月3日
Joint Bio’s :
where their poetry is published weekly as part of the ongoing Ma Yongbo Poetry Road Trip, Summer Tour, 2025, currently at Volume 24 ! Their first bi-lingual book, entitled Night-Shining White’ is due out in 2025/26. Their first Tri-lingual poetry book with Bangla poet Quazi Johirul Islam is also due out in 2026. Helen’s poem ‘Water’ and her co-translation with Yongbo of his poem ‘Spring Stream’ are both included in the first Elemental Poetry Cambridge Anthology, entitled ‘Water’ due out from Worple Press Worple Press| Independent publisher of poetry and art titles in November 2025. Here is an informative article about the Response Poetry between Helen Pletts and Ma Yongbo written by Nasir Aijaz https://sindhcourier.com/the-combined-poetic-dialogue/
Interview with Helen Pletts and Ma Yongbo
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