A leaf drifts down from the tree,

and in one careless fall,

it bears down the whole heavy autumn.

Zhou Zhanlin

Zhou Zhanlin is a member of the Chinese Writers Association. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of China Poetry Network, Deputy Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee for the All-China Poetry Tour, and Vice President of the Institute of Modern Poetry. He has published eighteen works in total, including the full-length novel Lotus Overnight; poetry collections The Couple Tree, You Sit Across from Me, Selected Poems of Zhou Zhanlin, Selected Lyric Poems of Zhou Zhanlin, Chinese Poetry • Volume of Zhou Zhanlin, In Full Bloom, Singing While Marching, Century Love (published in the United States), and Thoughts Among Star Rivers (published in Taiwan); as well as prose anthologies Riding the Tides and Return and Transcendence. He edited Selected Olympic Poems 2008 commissioned by the Cultural Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. His works have been anthologized in numerous compilations such as Anthology of Outstanding Literary Works of the 70 Years of New China • Poetry Volume, China Poetry Ranking List, and Annual Anthology of Chinese Poetry. His accolades include the Annual Poet Award from Mangzhong Magazine, the Annual Poet Achievement Award from Chinese Poets Journal, the China Long Poem Award, the Guo Xiaochuan Poetry Prize, the 2nd Hong Kong International Poet Award, the Contemporary Fiction Award from the Chinese Fiction Society, the 20th Lebanese Naji Naaman International Literary Prize, and the honorary title of “Poetry Knight” conferred by Romania at the 5th Iași International Poetry Festival. He attended the 12th “Glimpses of Youth” Poetry Session hosted by Poetry Periodical.

周占林，中国作家协会会员。中诗网主编，中国诗歌万里行组委会副秘书长，现代诗歌研究院副院长。出版有长篇小说《一夜芙蓉》、诗集《夫妻树》《你坐在我的对面》《周占林诗选》《周占林抒情诗选》《中国诗歌•周占林卷》《盛开》《且歌且行》《世纪之恋》（美国）《星河有念》（台湾）、散文集《弄潮》《重返与超越》等十八部。主编2008年奥组委文化部《2008奥运诗选》。作品入选《新中国70年优秀文学作品文库•诗歌卷》《中国诗歌排行榜》《中国诗歌年选》等多种选本。曾获《芒种》文学年度诗人奖，《中国诗人》年度诗人成就奖，中国长诗奖，郭小川诗歌奖，第二届香港国际诗人奖，中国小说学会“当代小说奖”，第二十届黎巴嫩纳吉阿曼国际文学奖，罗马尼亚授予第五届雅西国际诗歌节“诗歌骑士”荣誉。参加诗刊社第十二届“青春回眸”诗会。

Translated by Ma Yongbo

Meeting a Leaf at the Botanical Garden

A leaf drifts down from the tree,

and in one careless fall,

it bears down the whole heavy autumn.

 

Leaf after leaf, tracing autumn’s veins,

drawing near the earth,

as if drawing near their hometown.

 

I pick my steps with care,

afraid one misstep

will wound the autumn hidden deep beneath fallen leaves.

 

Boughs sway,

yet the wind stands perfectly still—

only my gaze drifts to and fro.

 

At the botanical garden, I meet a single leaf.

No excuses needed,

no fanciful longing either.

 

I need only open my heart wide,

to let this last fallen leaf of autumn

find a fitting resting place.

• 在植物园，我和一片叶子相会

一片叶子从树上飘落

一不小心

就压垮了这个沉重的秋天

 

一片片，沿着秋的脉络

向泥土靠近

就像靠近自己的故乡的一样

 

我小心翼翼地寻找落脚之处

害怕一失足

踩痛隐藏在落叶深处的秋天

 

树枝摇晃

风却纹丝不动

只有我的目光在左右飘移

 

在植物园，我和一片叶子相会

不需要任何借口

也不需要任何意淫

 

只需要敞开胸怀

让这个秋天的最后一片落叶

找到一个晚加合适的归处

***

Thin Mid-Autumn Beneath Cool Moonlight

Beneath the osmanthus tree,

endless yearnings wander to and fro.

The sweet, stirring scent

renders the moonlight even whiter.

 

Yet a cool ache lingers—

after floods, after typhoons sweep through,

only quiet desolation and loneliness remain.

 

The full, round moon

is torn open by the wind,

letting sorrow pour forth unbridled.

 

Nostalgia stands alone in the empty night,

tasting the mooncakes of this festival

with melancholy verse,

savouring the bitterness hidden beneath their sweetness.

 

On this night meant for reunion, countless families drown in grief upon grief,

stretching this Mid-Autumn Festival

thin and endless.

• 凉凉的月光瘦瘦的中秋

桂花树下

游走的是不尽的思念

那些兴奋的味道

让月光更加洁白

 

而有凉凉的痛

在洪水过后在台风走过

只剩下清寂与孤独

 

圆圆的月

被风吹破一个缺口

一任悲切流淌

 

有乡愁站在空旷的夜晚

用愁愁的诗意

品味这个中秋的月饼

在甜中深藏的苦

 

团圆之夜，有无数家庭在悲苦中悲苦

让这个中秋

有着瘦瘦的漫长

***

Lament for Autumn

The autumns of my childhood

unfolded before my eyes each year.

The autumn winds, the autumn rains,

tumbling with wandering fallen leaves, steeped in peril.

 

I saw no harvests at all—

every stalk of crop

as lonely and forsaken as my own childhood.

 

Plants lie drowned in muddy water,

like convicts marched to the execution ground,

listless, their gazes blurred and lost,

submitting to torrential downpours

that unleash a wild, relentless autumn drenching.

 

Old furniture tucked away in shadow

heaves quiet sighs,

trapped indoors, muffled by gust after gust of wind.

• 秋之叹

小时候的秋天

在这个季节开始在我眼前展现

那秋风，那秋雨

随着落叶的流浪而惊险

我没有看到丰收

所有的庄稼

都和我的童年一样孤苦伶仃

 

躺在泥水里的植物

就像走上刑场的罪犯

无精打彩且目光迷茫

任一场场暴雨

开启秋浴的狂热模式

 

隐藏在暗处的家具

发出的叹息

被一阵阵风声堵在屋里

_______________________

Read: A Respite – Poetry from China