Once falling

Snow becomes the topic of everyone

Thus snow becomes flowers, sorrows

Meng Yuan, an eminent poet from China, shares his poetry

Meng Yuan was born in Sichuan in 1977 and currently lives in Chengdu. He is the executive editor of “Fei Fei” magazine, China’s greatest avant-garde poetry school, and has won the 4th Zhongshan Literature Award. His poetry collections including “Birds Standing on the Edge of a Knife” and “Paper Architecture” etc.

孟原，1977年生于四川，现居成都，中国最大先锋诗歌流派“非非”杂志执行主编，曾获第四届中山文学奖。著有诗集《刀锋上站立的鸟群》《纸建筑》等。

(Translated by Ma Yongbo) 

Snow

Once falling

Snow becomes the topic of everyone

Thus snow becomes flowers, sorrows

Gift presented to winter

Its secret and its relevant

Exist also in human world, –spreading

Snow becomes something else extended

The flawless, the pure

The solemn, the just

Have all fallen upon snow

Snow falling from sky lightly

Once falling

Snow has become something heavy

That can hardly melt even under sunshine

***

 雪

雪一下

人们就都在说雪

雪于是是花朵是忧伤

是呈现给冬的礼物……

雪的秘密和关联的

也在人间，一一展开

雪就成为引申的别物

那些洁白和纯粹

那些崇高和正义

也都落在了雪的身上

雪从天空轻盈落下

落下来

雪已是一件沉沉的事物

即便有光亮也很难融化

***

 Peeking

From the crack

Everything looks disabled

Ragged, pale decaying

All over the place, slanting

Supported by each other

Relying on each other for life, but

At the rustle of leaves with wind

Their relation breaks instantly

Another kind of insertion

The sun beating

As its background

Looks drooping of paper kite, only to be

Something else hanging high

I live in humble abode, peeking secretly

Like a life-saving doctor

Observe, listen, question and feel the pulse

But forget about myself as a chronic patient

***

窥视

我从裂缝看出去

每件事物

都是残疾的样子

衣衫破烂，面色衰败

横七竖八，斜着

彼此支撑

好似相依为命。但

有一点风吹草动

他们的关系瞬间破裂

又是一种另外的穿插

阳光打过来

它是它的背景

看似纸鸢的低垂，恰是

别物高高的挂起

我蜗居屋里，暗中窥物

像一个悬壶济世的郎中

对屋外鲜活的事物

望闻问切

却忘记了久病的自己

***

 Passing Lotus Pond

Passing lotus pond

I care about nothing but those concerning humans, caring

About the feeling of roots separated yet fibers connected

Caring about such an illusionary setting

Everything can enter

I can also position myself in

Into the mud

So as to grow pure flesh

Then my halflife honor and dishonor

Can all go passing by here!

***

 路过荷塘

走过荷塘

我在乎人事，在乎

藕断丝连的感觉

在乎这一场虚设

万物都可以进去

我也可以把我放进去

放进这污泥里

就有洁白的肉身

这半生荣辱

都可以从这里路过

_______________

Read: The Illness – Poetry from China