# Fog

By Carl Sandburg. Sino-Mini translation, 9 September 2026.

Source: [Fog, Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45032/fog-56d2245d7b36c).

## Sino-Mini

雾 兮 来  
用 小 猫 脚。  
它 兮 坐  
上 静 背 腿，  
和 兮 看 乃 船 停 处 和 城。  
后，它 兮 继 动。

## Pinyin

wù xī lái  
yòng xiǎo māo jiǎo。  
tā xī zuò  
shàng jìng bèi tuǐ，  
hé xī kàn nǎi chuán tíng chù hé chéng。  
hòu，tā xī jì dòng。

## Literal English rendering

Fog comes  
using little cat feet.

It sits  
on silent hind legs,  
and watches the boats’ stopping place and the city.  
Then, it continues moving.

## Translation notes

- 船 停 处 is an ordinary description, “boat stopping place,” approximating harbor without specifying its protection or facilities.
- 背 腿 means hind legs and approximates haunches; it does not name that precise anatomical region.
- The sitting-location phrase precedes the coordinated watching predicate so that it modifies 坐, not the city. The middle lines therefore differ in order from the original.
- 它 supplies the shared subject of 坐 and 看. After the full stop, the time topic 后 takes a comma and 它 is stated again.
- 用 小 猫 脚 expresses movement using little cat feet. 继 动 expresses continuing to move, without specifying a destination.
- The English shown with the translation is a literal rendering, not the original poem. No words or fixed compounds were added.