The first International Youth Poetry Festival is underway in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province. A total of 72 young poets from BRICS countries – 23 from China and 49 from Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and more – are gathering to exchange ideas and insights about poetry and culture.
Running from July 19 to 24, the festival is the international version of the 39-year-old Youth Poetry Festival hosted by the China Writers Association and the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Zhejiang Provincial Committee.
On July 19, an impressive opening ceremony was hosted in Hangzhou, where young poets from different countries recited their poems and celebrated the launch of the festival.
During the ceremony, representatives from the group took to the stage and poured the "water of friendship" into a container that resembled an ancient Chinese ritual vessel, Jade Cong. The 'water,' which symbolizes the mother rivers from the poets' respective countries, spread from the center to the four sides of the container, and the 'tree' was lit up on the screen, marking the official opening of the festival.
A poem appears on screen as participants take the stage to sing "Auld Lang Syne" at the end of the opening ceremony of the Youth Poetry Festival, Hangzhou City, China, July 19, 2024. /China Writers Association
At the end of the ceremony, a long poem appeared on screen as participants took the stage to sing "Auld Lang Syne" together.
This poem was jointly composed by all 72 poets participating in the festival. Each poet wrote one line, filled with thoughts on love, peace and friendship from different parts of the world.
Here's the poem, titled 'This Poem is Dedicated to Us.'
'This Poem Is Dedicated to Us.'
Birds sing at my window
Pectoral movements guide their flight
She begins to hunt for a direction
Dragon song still reverberating in her ears
Everyone swaps positions on the chessboard
Captivated by the gravity of words
I look for words unused by poets
How many times I have been a white rice paper
Creating new sounds from words each time
I choose to light up the paper
You make an easy form
Our stories produce parts interlaced
Women are the descendants of the sun
As a poem brims with meaning
This poem is dedicated to us
To my father, who is greater than the world
Far and far away, obscured by the noise
Giant root system of the plant hides great passion
Nothing to ask for but this extensive peace
The boat gliding through the middle
I travel an endless life in fantasy
I use only torches to clarify the vowels
Worth standing on the summit of a poem
Please come together, dear star
When I jump at you like a child
Embracing under the extensive starry sky
I drink you from the honey of a smile
In the glimpse of twilight
Pave the way back
In the shoes of a river
I can finally sleep in peace
In the face of this profound world
The childish me inspires the middle-aged me
I pray for another me to fall
Don't turn on the light, your eyes will guide me
Across seaside hills, bushes and elephant land
To reach the edge of a mountain
When time-warped memories fall
You are the last fruit left on a crooked branch
For the unknown reader, finder or seeker
Touch the ever soft air
The fire of history closes its doors behind us
All things shine into our hearts
Every dawn, every dusk
And the plain in the distance overlooking us
Street lights come on one after another
Open the door to another life of light
As coming out of a grand light
I will return to you in the form of a river bed
Burning words, bells
Almost everything that can be seen is reborn
I am an ignorant student in this infinite space and time
Let us reunite to be born again
Let us invite the whole world to fall in perfect snow
Listen to the snow falling into the urn of time
Recite to an invisible audience
Sometimes gifts speak for us
The moon stuck high in the sky
Love swims in her abandoned garden
Floating on a boat with no name
Please respect my traditional orientation
The light before dawn
Over the faint flames
Here is an oud, no one playing
A million words hidden in the sand
Take your seeds and your faith
Write another line after many years
Until one day, thoughts like waves
Praise the water in a girl's eyes
Happiness gets shape in sharing
The melody sounds softly and sets the mood
It plays for every moment of my life
(With input from China Writers Association)