Jianqing Zheng is a prolific poet, photographer, and expert on the haiku form. He is also a Mississippi transplant who writes with deep care and insight about the landscape and community he now calls home. Today, we share three of his poems alongside the photos by Eudora Welty that inspired them.
Ghost Town
—Eudora Welty’s "Hamlet / Rodney"
The dirt road winds
mile after mile into
a river hamlet that
many years ago
surrendered to the
walking dead of time
pacing or tiptoeing
with a light gait and
casting a cold eye
on the dilapidated
churches and houses
taken by the vines
of kudzu to show
the irresistible
power of nature.