Stay hidden in the dim like this,
Return to your true, mature self.
Shen Qi, born in Mian County, Shaanxi Province in 1951, embarked on poetic creation and literary activities in the 1970s. Starting from the 1980s, he has long devoted himself to poetry writing, poetic research, poetry teaching and literary criticism up to the present day. He has authored 19 works in total, including Selected Poems of Shen Qi, the three-volume Collected Essays on Poetics by Shen Qi, the seven-volume Selected Prose and Poetry of Shen Qi, the poetic remarks collection Seedless Clouds, and the poetic essays A Cook Dissects Words. He has edited nine anthologies such as the ten-volume Contemporary Remarks on New Poetry, Essentials of Western Poetics, 300 Modern Short Poems, and Taiwanese Poetry of the 1990s. He is currently a member of the China Writers Association and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Poetry, Peking University.
沈奇，1951年生，陕西勉县人。1970年代开始诗歌写作和文学活动，1980年代起诗歌写作、诗学研究、诗歌教学及文艺评论潜沉修远至今。著有《沈奇诗选》《沈奇诗学文集》（三卷）《沈奇诗文选集》（七卷）诗话集《无核之云》诗随笔《庖丁解词》等19种。主编《当代新诗话》（10卷）《西方诗论精华》《现代小诗300首》《九十年代台湾诗选》等9种。现为中国作家协会会员，北京大学中国诗歌研究院特聘研究员。
Translated by Ma Yongbo
A Respite
Stay hidden in the dim like this,
Return to your true, mature self.
You will break free from the tangles of light—
All hollow honors and fabricated truths.
Whether you adorn light,
Or become a fragment of it.
I recall my mother’s soft words from youth:
Turn off the lamp and rest; cease your restless striving.
One line of verse mirrors the moon,
Half a cup of tea calms the heart.
Grass grows freely, unknowing of worldly cares.
《一休》
就这样，待在暗处
成熟原本的你自己
便不再有光的纠缠
那些虚构的荣誉与真理
便是你装饰了光
或成为光的一部分
便想起年轻时母亲的叮咛
关灯睡吧，别再折腾
印月一行诗
牧心半盏茶
草色无知自在萌
***
Sitting Alone on a Southern Balcony
I sit alone on a southern balcony, watching the rain
Watching southern rain arrive and unfold
Vivid trees and heavy blossoms in the downpour
Grey clouds stirred into motion by the wind
This is the balcony of a friend’s house in the south
Borrowing this southern scene, I stand apart
A detached sensitivity settles over me
Restrained yet absorbed, calm yet lost in vague feeling
In this mood, words grow faint
I refuse to speak, to avoid empty sentiment
Reject northern restlessness and hollow longing
Only rest my head gently against my collar
Rest against the rain, against thunder rolling through it
Become one damp living thing among the plants
A single lamp left lit through this dusk
Waiting for a lover inside this borrowed moment
Tonight I will make no calls
Stop asking myself
After the tide rises
Will the shore remain whole…
《独坐于南方的阳台》
独坐于南方的阳台，看雨
看南方之雨的来临与发生
雨中树的鲜活、花的凝重
为风所激动起来的灰色云层
这是南方朋友家的阳台
在借来的、南方式的风景中
一种局外的敏感，使你
矜持而又投入，清新而又莫名
如此的感觉里语言模糊起来
拒绝言说如同拒绝矫情
拒绝北方式的焦虑和虚妄
只是将头静静靠向自己的衣领
靠向雨，雨中滚动的雷声
成为植物淋湿的部份
成为这个黄昏独自亮着的一盏灯
在虚构的情景中等待着恋人
哦，今晚不再打电话
不再提醒自己
涨潮之后，是否
岸会依旧完整……
***
Winter Reading in the North
Heavy snow falls outside the window, no stove burns indoors
Central heating hints at city life
All my friends have gone south
Only the books stay where they always were
I pull one out at random
And flip its pages the whole afternoon
I retain nothing at all
Yet many frayed feelings grow mild
Books are faithful old friends
They stay by your side anytime
And never betray you in secret
Holding the best of lovers and servants both
Such thoughts lighten my heart
Two birds sing within my eyes
At forty, I feel like a boy with his first love
Counting snowflakes drifting down outside
When this poem drifts into mind
I am not bent over the desk staring at books
I sit before the television, watching
A thrilling English football match
The white ball flies like a male pigeon
Darting back and forth over old England
My inspiration is a lazy cat
Roaming slowly across northern China tonight
《北方冬日的读书生活》
窗外大雪，屋内没有炉火
暖气暗示着一种城市生活
朋友们都去了南边
只有书待在老地方
随便抽出其中的一本
就那么翻了一个下午
当然什么也没记住
却温暖了不少冷去的情绪
书真是个恋旧的好朋友
随时会来到你的身边
且从不会悄悄地背叛你
兼有情人和仆人的优点
这样想着心情更加舒畅
眼睛中便有两只小鸟歌唱
四十岁的你便如初恋的小伙
数着窗外的雪花静静飘落
是的，当这首诗悠然降临
你并未守着书桌对书凝神
只是坐在电视机前，看一场
英格兰的足球联赛精彩纷呈
那只白色的皮球像只雄鸽
在过去式的英伦上空来回飞舞
你的灵感则如一只懒猫
在今夜的中国北方缓缓地散步
____________________
