1525: The Burning Kite by Ouyang Jianghe, translated by Austin Woerner - The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

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The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

Episode 1525: The Burning Kite by Ouyang Jianghe, translated by Austin Woerner

Host: Maggie Smith
Date: May 28, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Maggie Smith explores gratitude for both poets and translators, highlighting how translation opens doors to worlds otherwise inaccessible to English readers. She reflects on the capacities of poetry—its deceptive brevity and hidden vastness—before introducing and reading Ouyang Jianghe’s startling, imagery-rich poem The Burning Kite, in a translation by Austin Woerner.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Vastness of Poetry’s Brevity (00:51–02:10)

Gratitude for Poets: Maggie begins by acknowledging the gift poets give through their insights, language, and the expansiveness even the briefest poems provide.
Mary Poppins Analogy:
- “Poems are deceptive in that way, aren’t they? It reminds me of Mary Poppins’ famous carpet bag... She reaches into her purse and pulls out things that couldn’t possibly fit inside... Poems are like that, too.” — Maggie Smith [01:15]
- Poems, like Mary’s bag, contain more than their size suggests.

The Unsung Work of Translators (02:11–03:30)

Gratitude for Translators:
- Maggie emphasizes the importance of translators in widening our horizons and deepening our literary lives.
- “They make it possible for us to read the work of poets who write in languages we don’t understand, opening doors for us that would have otherwise stayed closed. They enlarge our lives.” — Maggie Smith [02:28]
Constraints as Freedom:
- Translation, with its creative limitations, becomes an act of expansion, finding “new nooks and crannies of possibility.”

Poetry & Translation: Exponential Possibilities (03:31–04:00)

Maggie highlights how working under constraints—in poetry and translation—leads to “surprisingly beautiful things.”

Introduction to "The Burning Kite" (04:01–04:20)

Maggie frames the poem as one that demands repeated readings for its striking imagery and originality.
- “Every once in a while, a poem comes along with imagery so startling, phrasing so original, I have to read it several times in a row to be sure I’m taking it all in. Today’s poem is one of them.” — Maggie Smith [04:12]

Poem Segment: The Burning Kite by Ouyang Jianghe, trans. Austin Woerner (04:20–06:16)

(Read in its entirety by Maggie Smith—see excerpted memorable lines below)

The poem explores the longing for flight and freedom, contrasting the desire to rise above with the constraints of reality.
- Notable Lines & Imagery:
  - “But to rise on air does not make you a bird.” [04:23]
  - “I’m sick of the hiss of champagne bubbles. It’s spring and everyone’s got something to puke.” [04:29]
  - “A free life is made of words. You can crumple it, toss it in the trash or fold it between the bodies of angels, attaining a permanent address in the sky.” [04:51]
  - “Raise your glass higher, toss it up and away. Few know this kind of dizzy glee. An empty sky, a pair of burning wings.” [06:10]
The poem’s fiery, flight-filled imagery reflects the pain and exhilaration woven into ideas of transcendence and mortality.

Memorable Quotes

On Translators:
- “They make it possible for us to read the work of poets who write in languages we don’t understand, opening doors for us that would have otherwise stayed closed.” — Maggie Smith [02:28]
On Poetry’s Potential:
- “Poems are deceptive in that way, aren’t they? ... Poems are like that, too. I’m so grateful for how vast they are, even if they are only a handful of lines long.” — Maggie Smith [01:20]
On the Wonder of This Poem:
- “Every once in a while, a poem comes along with imagery so startling, phrasing so original, I have to read it several times in a row to be sure I’m taking it all in.” — Maggie Smith [04:12]
Poem Excerpt:
- “A free life is made of words. You can crumple it, toss it in the trash or fold it between the bodies of angels, attaining a permanent address in the sky.” — Ouyang Jianghe (trans. Woerner), read by Maggie Smith [04:51]

Timestamps for Important Segments

[00:51] Opening reflection on gratitude for poets and the power of poetry
[02:11] Spotlight on translators and their vital, creative work
[04:01] Introduction to the poem "The Burning Kite"
[04:20–06:16] Full reading of the poem by Maggie Smith

Tone & Final Impressions

Maggie’s tone is warm, contemplative, and filled with awe for both poetry and translation. The episode is an invitation to pause, savor, and marvel at the expansive worlds embedded in brief lines and the collaborative art of bringing poetry across languages.

For daily poems and reflections, visit slowdownshow.org or follow The Slowdown on Instagram @slowdownshow.

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Transcript4 lines

[00:00]
A
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[00:31]
B
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[00:51]
C
I'm maggie smith, and this is the slow down. Every weekday we spend time on this show expressing gratitude for poets. We are grateful for their insights, their language, their craft. We are grateful for the enormous spaces that even the briefest poems create for us and in us. Poems are deceptive in that way, aren't they? It reminds me of Mary Poppins famous carpet bag. She reaches into her purse and pulls out things that couldn't possibly fit inside a coat stand, a floor lamp, and much, much more. Poems are like that, too. I'm so grateful for how vast they are, even if they are only a handful of lines long. But I want to spend some time today expressing gratitude for translators. They make it possible for us to read the work of poets who write in languages we don't understand, opening doors for us that would have otherwise stayed closed. They enlarge our lives. Sometimes creative constraints lead to what feels like greater freedom. We explore the full capacity within those constraints, finding new nooks and crannies of possibility. They can seem exponential. Poetry and translation is perhaps one of the best examples of this. The difficult, constrained choices of translators lead to surprisingly beautiful things. Every once in a while, a poem comes along with imagery so startling, phrasing so original, I have to read it several times in a row to be sure I'm taking it all in. Today's poem is one of them. The Burning Kite by Oyong Zheng He, Translated from the Chinese by Austin Warner what a thing it would be if we all could fly. But to rise on air does not make you a bird. I'm sick of the hiss of champagne bubbles. It's spring and everyone's got something to puke. The things we puke Flights of stairs, a skyscraper soaring from the gut, the bills blown by on the April breeze, followed by flurries of razor blades in May. It's true, a free life is made of words. You can crumple it, toss it in the trash or fold it between the bodies of angels, attaining a permanent address in the sky. The postman hands you your flight of birds persisting in the original shape of wind. Whether they're winging toward the scissors V or printed and plastered on every wall, or bound and trussed bamboo frames wound with wire, or sentenced to death by fire, you are first and always ash. Broken wire, a hurricane at each end. Firetrucks scream across the earth, but this blaze is a thing of the air. Raise your glass higher, toss it up and away. Few know this kind of dizzy glee. An empty sky, a pair of burning wings. The Slowdown is a production of American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. To get a poem delivered to you daily, go to slowdownshow.org and sign up for our newsletter. And find us on Instagram at Slowdown show and blueskylowdownshow.org.
[06:42]
B
Hey, it's Francis Lamb, host of the Splendid Table podcast. Every week on our show, we celebrate the intersection of food and life, and this month we're releasing a new series called Culinary Masters. It highlights some of the most iconic people in the food world, and we're revisiting conversations with people who have fundamentally changed how many of us cook and think about food. People like Jacques Pepin, Claudia Rhoden and Tony Bourdain, to name a few. You can listen to this special series now. Just search for the Splendid Table in your podcast. Apparently.