Seven-Character Regulated Verse:
Third Reflection on Reading the Newspapers
(June 13, 1960)

Trotsky returns to his former home,
Neither war nor peace—what do you seek?
From the blue clouds drifts down a talking bird,
The Black Sea churns with angry fish.
At the Élysée Palace, lips turn black,
At Camp David, the face is rouged.
News comes out year after year, commonplace,
Only this year’s news comes out extraordinary.

Seven-Character Regulated Verse:
Third Reflection on Reading the Newspapers

[1] "Trotsky returns to his former home" refers to the Khrushchev clique’s betrayal of Marxism-Leninism, which is exactly the same as the Trotskyite faction of those years, as if Trotsky’s ghost has returned to its old home.

[2] "Neither war nor peace—what do you seek?" refers to the Khrushchev clique’s stance on the question of war and peace: they dare not support the revolutionary wars of the oppressed nations and peoples against imperialism and colonialism, fearing it might trigger a third world war; yet they are not sincerely committed to safeguarding world peace, but instead use the nuclear weapons in their hands to contend with U.S. imperialism for world hegemony. The meaning here is to ask what exactly the Khrushchev clique wants.

[3] "Blue clouds" means high altitude. "Talking bird" is a bird’s name. On May 1, 1960, a U-2 aircraft took off from a U.S. base in Adana, Turkey, intruded about 2,100 kilometers into Soviet airspace, and was shot down. The pilot, Powers, was captured. Here it jokingly refers to the captured American pilot who confessed to his espionage activities.

[4] The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. Its northern and eastern shores belong to the Soviet Union, its western shores to Romania and Bulgaria, and its southern shore to Turkey. Here it is used to refer to the Soviet Union. "Churns" means to surge. "Angry fish" is a metaphor for the Soviet fleet.

[5] The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the French president. News reports often use the Élysée Palace as a metonym for the French president. Here it refers to the first session of the four-power conference of the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, convened on May 16, 1960.

[1] Camp David is the U.S. presidential retreat. From September 25 to 27, 1959, the then heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union, Eisenhower and Khrushchev, held talks there. "The face is rouged" refers to a woman applying rouge to her face to please men. Here it refers to Khrushchev currying favor with U.S. imperialism during the Camp David talks from December 25 to 27, 1959.

[2] "Year after year" means every year, annually. "Commonplace" means ordinary. "News comes out year after year, commonplace" means news comes out ordinarily year after year.

[3] "Only" means solely. "Extraordinary" means special.

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1960, Mao Zedong taking a walk.