The Tapestry of Words

Ma Yongbo

A contemplative poem by Ma Yongbo, with art from Shamir Iqtidar.

Artwork by Shamir Iqtidar

He wove a tapestry from words,

yet only saw its front—

a riot of blooms and colour,

never the tangled threads behind,

the knotted, messy stitches,

a puzzle of hues where no one

could trace where each line began or bent.

Inside the story he wove, he spoke to someone,

using that man's hands and speech, till there was nothing left to say.

It felt like a real place,

yet nothing existed there, no space at all—

the emptiness between the outstretched arms of a sleepwalker.

A universe without substance, where rain watered the galaxy,

and a frying pan cooled slowly, leaning against a wall.

There would be no certain ending, no protagonist

rising again in each act. He grew tired of repetition,

yet could not bring it to a full close. Only

by falling into the grass could he breathe

the sharp scent of real earth, and see inside the roots

a busy republic. His abstract life

lifted the roof higher, and the flocks of birds that divined upon it.

And this bright, blazed tapestry, its edges blurred,

hung on a nail of stars, high above the road,

replacing every visible landscape.

He always longed to circle to its back,

as he once did in childhood, behind the screen of an open-air movie,

since he could not understand the story woven on its front

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Ma Yongbo was born in 1964, Ph.D. and a representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry as well as a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry. He has published over eighty original works and translations since 1986 included seven poetry collections. He focused on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose including the work of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams and Ashbery. He recently published a complete translation of Moby Dick, which has sold over half a million copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology. The Collected Poems of Ma Yongbo (four volumes, Eastern Publishing Centre, 2024) comprising 1178 poems, celebrate 40 years of writing poetry.

Shamir Iqtidar is a visual artist based in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He received his undergraduate degree from the National College of Arts, Rawalpindi. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in exhibitions. He has also participated in international art fairs including ‘We Were Always Neighbours’ at ASIA NOW Paris and ‘Home?’ at ARCO Madrid, both presented by Method, as well as a group presentation with Dastangoi Gallery at Art Dubai. In 2024, he was awarded the Nigaah Art Award for emerging artists.