Preface Ⅰ Writing and “Creating”Poetry

While reading the book Vanishing Poems，I also read Stephen King’s It.

One is a collection of poems，the other，a novel．I did not expect to discover after reading them that they both had the same goal，but reached it by different means．The goal was that of pure fiction．One realizes from the very first word that the story told by Stephen King is fiction．But Vanishing Poems does not reveal its fictionality until you read the final words of the appendices．The compiler of the poems，Gúg.l Tríntl.t of Iceland，is actually “Google Translate”．As for attributing his nationality to Iceland，it was when using Google Translate that three real writers discovered the “power of the Icelandic language”．The poems “written”in this language are often elegant and magical，with magnificent and profound images，and quite a few philosophical implications.

Indeed，no wonder that these short poems with traces of history，the colour of life，the light of philosophical thought，and the exquisite explanation full of elements of authentic textual research under each short poem，all touch a chord of rationality in the reader’s mind，and then play a gentle melody of meditation．As the Portuguese writer Saramago wrote in his book The Age of Lies：“The expression in these short poems is much richer than your first glimpse of them… Today，without poetry as a channel of expression，one cannot call oneself a complete person.”

Xiao Gong and his two young friends，three seventeen-year-old Chinese teenagers，have perfectly refined creative writing，not writing in the traditional sense，but have input their sudden whims onto the Internet and the Internet executed their writing．Prior to that，Gong Ziming had published his own collection of fictional interviews，On the Way to Salai．Mr．Xie Mian affirmed that he had “a sense of exploration，independent thinking and an expressive ability that many of his peers did not have.”This anthology，Vanishing Poems，in the words of Xiao Gong，is an experiment in “anti-literature”．Literature，having shouted or whispered using human voices，now，relying on electronic devices without human emotions，civilizations or cultural accumulation，taps out some interesting and thought-provoking words at will，through the use of a few fingers．The poems touch on religion，the universe，time，life，and death… They will induce you to recall the past，imagine the future，regret inaction，and find the strength to face helplessness.

This thin collection of poems is an exploration of “writing”methods or techniques．It is like a literary form of the Douyin（抖音，Tik Tok in English）app，or the Kuaishou（快手，literally translated as “deft hand”）app in printing and binding.

Is this a kind of modernity？Is this a kind of “secularism”？What should we believe？What can we turn into entertainment？Since we cannot transcend time，what good things would our hearts desire to be eternal？Are we right to judge only by appearances according to the teaching of good and evil in our lives？

Forgive my ignorance．This collection of poems is the first one I have ever read that “contradicts”the writing techniques of other poets．Its “writing”technique is unique，and once made me think a lot．There are also some poems that left me with strong and meaningful memories.

I sincerely hope that the three young authors of this book，after the publication of their work，will proceed to the creation of original Chinese poetry and be loyal to their personal good feelings，to the joy and sorrow of ordinary people，and to the dignity of poetry.

I hereby present this article as a preface.

（⊿This preface is written by Huang Nubo，the president of the Chinese Poetry Society and the executive vice-president of the Chinese Poetry Academy of Peking University.）