A Note on Beijing

Not our birthplace.
A layover.
A terminal.
A long, long road to walk. To live.
We have come -
and yes, the truth is simple and cryptic.
The beads of dew have fled the grass.
The lightning has left its ancient sanctuary.
The thrumming insect
has overflown its home.
Dust envelops the body.
It came across the plains, the houses, and the faltering trees.
Tomorrow, the next day, or even tonight,
we will leave this place.
The cars abandon the bag of trash by the road,
but not us.
A scar is received,
but not us.
Tonight
is the body outside of warmth.
The moon rises, and we go.
Moonlight. Oh, moonlight.
One could make a fine shirt from it.

- Lan Ye


北京短章

还不是我们的出生地
一座驿站
一个码头
一条长长的生活之路
我们来了
理由是那么明亮也是那么稳秘
是露珠逃脱了草叶
是闪电离开了他躲藏多年的暗处
是低鸣的虫子
飞越了他自己的土地
是裹紧了身子的尘土
飘过了草原，房舍，和摇晃的树木
明天，后天，也许就在今晚
我们会离开这里
不是汽车轰鸣中被抛下的那袋子垃圾
不是一块疤痕，被接下来
离开温暖的肉体
就在今晚
月亮升起，我们远去
月光啊月光
是做件上衣的好料子

- 蓝野

My Homeland

My homeland always seemed distant -
at the source of the rivers,
beyond the frontier,
beside a stranger.

My homeland always seemed distant -
on the peach blossom banks,
on the plains and on the northern tundras,
somewhere unexplored even in dream.

But, when the train door opened
and I saw my mother standing by the tracks -
when the wind lifted her white hair,
carrying on it the gesture she had just made
with her hand -

it was then I knew that my homeland
had never been far from me.

- Li Xiao-luo


我的故乡

一直以为我的故乡在远方
在那些大河的尽头
在关外
在陌生人的身旁

一直以为我的故乡在远方
在那桃花溪畔
在草原雪域，在北国
梦里还没去过的地方

可是，当火车开启
我看见妈妈站在铁轨旁
风把她的白发掀起
风把她刚刚放下去的手势
又掀了起来

我才知道，我的故乡
她从来就没去过远方

- 李小洛

Beautiful Morning

The same cloudless sky.
The same bright sunlight.
As usual, the pale green window screen stands open.
As usual, both sides quiver.
This morning is just like yesterday morning,
and tomorrow morning will prove similar.
So how is today so wonderful
that every pore of the body yearns to sing out?

Who came this morning
and took away my gloom and chaos?
Took away my dry branches and dead leaves?
For every flower that wilted, two have bloomed.
The water that flowed away has returned with new rain.
What is the reason?
Let me praise the sky I take for granted,
the sun I take for granted,
and the window screen that quivers in the wind.
I must also praise
this cough provoked by the spring pollen
and the garrulous rattle of the pills in the plastic bottle.

You floated here from the manger of dawn,
from spices and linen,
from the sea's troubled face.
You sat across from me
and made the morning perfect.
Made me perfect.

Please don't think of him as just a man.
He is not just a man.
How could he be just a man?

- Liu Ya-li


美好的上午

一样的晴朗天空
一样的明亮阳光
淡绿色的纱质窗帘照常拉开
它在两边一如既往地轻微抖动
今天上午仿佛昨天上午
今天上午也相似于明天上午
为什么偏偏今天上午这样的好啊
身体的每个毛孔都想放声歌唱

是谁在今天上午
拿走了我的晦暗和浑浊
拿走了我的枯枝与败叶
落花谢了一朵又开了两朵
流水携着新雨又流了回来
是什么样的不明原因
让我开口赞美习以为常的天空
习以为常的阳光
还有那随风抖动的窗帘
我还要开口赞美我那
被春天的花粉挑逗的咳嗽
赞美硬塑料瓶子里沙啦啦乱响的白色药粒

你从黎明的马槽里飘来
从香料和麻布中飘来
从波涛汹涌的海面上飘来
你坐在我的对面
让这个上午无限地好
让我无限地好
你们千万不要把他猜想成一个人
那不是一个人
那怎么会是一个人

- 刘亚丽

Ice

I've decided. Starting today, I will melt.
Quietly, under the brilliant golden eyelashes of the sun.
No longer will I cling to my cold, hard self.
Free the affections, eyes, and limbs imprisoned for a whole winter.
Free a simmering band of rioters.
Don't speak with the mouth of a little brook -
speak plainly and clearly, and say the difficult things.
Speak peaceably, but with the voice of thunder.
Don't live the tree's life, shackled to roots of security;
live as the spring wind or the running river, roaming the earth...
As I melt, I realize the pain of love has already suffused me.
Though the tears on my face disappear, they're not dry.

- Hu Gang-yi


冰

我决定，从今天开始融化
在阳光金灿灿的睫毛下悄悄融化
不再坚持自己的冷与硬
释放囚禁一冬的爱情，眼睛，手脚
释放一群好动的暴动分子
我要借小溪的嘴说话
说清澈洁白的话，说一波三折的话
说心平气和的话，也说雷电叱咤的话
不学那树以根拴住安稳的一生
而像春风像奔跑的江河去漫游大地。。。。。。
当融化时，发现爱的疼痛已深入骨髓
我泪流满脸，消失了，泪还未干

- 胡刚毅

A Tree in Spring

Had I not met you,
I would have never known the form of meekness
or the shape of love.

Once the snow has melted,
the first leaf of spring
bursts from the bud, quietly
opening bleary eyes
on a black stem.

Like a new bride -
timid, tender -
it looks down on the world.

A flock of astonished sparrows
is clamoring, hopping,
and cheering it on.
It shows a rush of strength.
In days, it is a flame of green.

Had I not met you,
I would have never known spring
or the beauty of life
that it holds.

- Li Ying


春天的树

如果我没有遇到你
就不知道娇羞是什么样子
不知道爱的形状

春天的第一片叶子
突破芽苞，悄悄地
睁开惺忪的眼睛
在雪溶后的黑色枝条上

和新嫁娘有同一种眼神的
嫩叶的芽，胆怯地
望着这个世界

一群惊奇的小雀子
喧闹地叫着，跳着
唤他胆大起来
便显出奔突的力量
没几天，就燃成一片绿色的火

如果我没有遇到你
就不认识春天
不认识春天展示的
生命的美丽

- 李瑛

Life

All is tears,
and death is commonplace.
All have been hurt.
Some, though white-haired, have unhealed wounds.
Some, though dead, have wounds that live.
This is life: many generations have lived it,
and many generations have died. The living, though,
will always outnumber the dead.
Every morning, in the eyes that sorrowed through the night,
the sun holds an unwithering light.
We are humble, poor, callous,
and homely. Bland,
and lonely too. And yet, we are life
itself. Thus, dear one,
are you happy; if the self is pure,
so then is life.

- Bai Lian-chun


生活

到处都是泪水
死人的事也经常发生
每个人都收过伤
有的已经白发苍苍，伤口仍没有愈合
有的已经死了，伤口还活着
这就是生活：一代代人都活过
一代代人都死了。但是，活着的
永远比死去的多
每天早上，夜里悲哀过的眼睛里
太阳坚持永不凋谢的光
我们卑微，贫穷，不会爱
也不漂亮，还平庸和
孤独，然而，我们就是生活
本身。亲爱的，就是说
你快乐；我干净
生活就干净

- 白莲春

Love Song

The dead do not love the living
because they do not remember
– I love you, because I do remember
small things, having forgotten
how time callously passes on.

At times, the anticipated moment
mixes into voices, laughter, and echoes
in an empty room. A waft
of jasmine traverses fall and winter
to settle over a drizzling night sky.

Today, I heard the God of Death's footsteps
trailing away from me; when I beheld
you who have been crumpled by the world,
an ocean of stored-up love revived me.

- A Zi


情歌

死去的人不爱世人
因为他们不再有回忆
-----我爱你，因为记得
一些小事，而忘记了
时光怎样无情地流逝

有时等待的一刻和
谈笑声，共同回荡在
空荡的房间里。一股
栀子花香穿越秋冬
驻留一直微雨的夜空

今天我才听到死神从我身边
走开的脚步-----当我发现
被尘世揉皱的你，同时因为
蕴藏爱的大海而奇异地崭新

- 阿紫