Ghost Town
Poems by Jianqing Zheng and photos by Eudora Welty
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.
Light of Day
—Eudora Welty’s "Dappled"
Soft sunlight coming
through a shady tree dapples
the washerwoman
sitting by herself
on the dusty steps of a
shack. It’s a warm touch
that enlivens sur-
roundings in a grayish shade.
Her white apron and
headwrap highlight her
posture as still and patient
as her steady look.
Two empty washtubs
behind her also collect
some dapples. When wind
rustles dry leaves, light
and shadow dance like angels
to delight her eyes
when a weary day
softens its hardness slowly
into dappled light.
Before Rain
—Eudora Welty's "If it rains"
1
A young woman
wearing a paper hat
to protect her hair
from the coming rain
stands on the sidewalk
her smile shines like light
2
An old bicycle
leans limply
against the wall
of a roadside store
waiting to spin rain
on its wheels
3
A figure drags
down the street
a blur into
the shades of gray
closing in
to darken the sky
4
The road of life
has rain and storm
now and then
treat it with a smile
though only paper hats
can be wornJianqing Zheng is the author of The Dog Years of Reeducation (Madville Publishing, 2023), A Way of Looking (Silverfish Review Press, 2021), Enforced Rustication in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (Texas Review Press, 2019), Delta Sun (Red Moon Press 2018), and The Landscape of Mind (Slapering Hol Press, 2002). His edited books include Conversations with Dana Gioia, African American Haiku, The Other World of Richard Wright, and Sonia Sanchez’s Poetic Spirit through Haiku. He is a professor of English at Mississippi Valley State University where he edits Valley Voices: A Literary Review. Zheng’s newest chapbook Just Looking: Haiku Sequences about the Mississippi Delta is available for download via Open: Journal of Arts and Literature. Zheng’s next poetry collection, Dreaminations, is forthcoming from Madville Publishing. He coedited Dana Gioia: Poet & Critic (Mercer UP, 2024).
Read more by Jianqing Zheng—
"The Persistence of Life"
The Persistence of Life —Eudora Welty’s "Day’s End" Autumn dusk. An old woman wobbles down the sidewalk. She wears a bucket hat, a dress, and an unbuttoned sweater, all in faded black. Her floral apron in faded wh…
Mississippi Transplant: Jianqing "John" Zheng
"In a sense, this path has been a simple and straight one for me. I was a professor of English in China and for the past twenty-six years, I have been a professor of English in Mississippi. I have never changed a lane in a different direction."
Lovely Jian. Thank you for sharing.
These poems are beautiful responses to/reflections of the Welty photographs, and some of the images will stay with me: a washtub collecting dapples, a bicycle leaning limply . . . Thank you!