Walking alone, from childhood to old age

Then from success to failure

Coming from loneliness, and stepping into one’s own glory…

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

Yuan Zheng, born in 1960, lives in Harbin. He has been writing poetry for more than 40 years. His published works include the poetry collection Urban Birch Forest and the collection of poems and essays Love as Vastness. His poetic style is simple, with a perspective from the bottom of society, embodying a strong spirit of realism.

元正，1960年生，现居哈尔滨，迄今写作诗歌40余载，出版有诗歌合集《都市的白桦林》、诗文集《爱若空茫》等，诗风朴素，底层视角，具有强烈的现实主义精神。

(Translated by Ma Yongbo)

Walking Alone

You come from all directions

Always alone

You walk toward the opposite of your starting point

Not knowing when you’ll return

 

Walking alone, from childhood to old age

Then from success to failure

Coming from loneliness, and stepping into one’s own glory

 

Walking alone, humming different songs

Changing various facial expressions

Both hands twisting unconsciously

As if fighting with an invisible person, knowing the outcome yourself

Sometimes it’s all a blur, for the destination you’re heading to

Is not where you want to go!

 

You’ll feel a little dejected, and what irritates you more

Is that there’s no turning back on this road

Countless times you linger at the crossroads

No one to guide you, no road signs

The feeling in your heart is your only guide

 

Sometimes someone wants to walk with you

Only to find that what walks together is just the body

A form in the eyes of ordinary people

In the end, you’ll still walk alone

Walking alone toward the destined end

***

一个人走路

你从各个方向走来

总是孤单一人

你朝着出发地的对立面行走

不知什么时候才能返回

一个人走路，从儿时走到衰老

再从成功走向失败

由孤寂而来再走进一个人的辉煌

 

一个人走路嘴里哼着不同的歌曲

变换着各样的面部表情

两只手下意识地扭动，

似乎是在与无形的人搏击，胜负自知

有时也迷蒙一片，因为你要去的终点

并不是你想去的地方

 

你会有些沮丧，更让你恼火的是此路无法回头

无数次你在十字路口徘徊不前

没有人指引也没有路标

心里的感觉就是你唯一的向导

 

有时也会有人想与你结伴同行

后来才发现结伴而行的只是躯壳，

是凡人眼里的形式

最终还将是你一个人孤单地行走

一个人走向宿命的结局

***

Fleeting Beauty

——To the Hens under the Winter Sun

 

On days like this, sunshine is always scarce

You must be reminiscing about summer and your younger days

How good those times were, with plenty of youth and strength to sustain life

But now, the red paint on that window has peeled off

White frost flowers cast a chill from inside the glass

 

Only the sky remains clear

And the sun still smiles gently

You crouch under this fleeting warm sun

Gazing at the empty henhouse that has been unused for a long time

Still missing the current state of your offspring

Those lively, fluffy chicks

Who have long since left the shelter of your wings

Are they still in the same village?

Enjoying the same patch of sunshine

Living as comfortably as you do

 

Yet the known and unknown darkness lurks not far away

The big hand that controls your fate

Is temporarily busy switching roles between teacups and wine glasses

You must have seen it too

Clusters of swords hang upside down above your heads

The end of the twelfth lunar month may be the hour of your ordeal

After that, the sun will still shine on the world

***

短暂的美好

——写给冬日暖阳下的母鸡

 

像这样的日子阳光总是不多

你们一定在回想着夏季和年青的时候

那时候多好，有大把的青春和力量为生命提供保障

而眼下那扇窗户红色的油漆已经剥落

白色的霜花在玻璃里面射出一片阴冷

 

只有天空还是晴朗的

太阳也还在和蔼地微笑着

你们就蹲在这短暂的暖阳下

看着空置许久的产房

还是要思念那些后代的现况

那些个鲜活的毛绒绒的雏

如今早已离开了你们庇护的翅膀

它们是否还在同一个村庄

享受着同一片阳光

像你们一样惬意地活着

 

而那些已知和未知的黑暗就在不远处潜伏着

主宰你们命运的大手

暂时还在茶杯与酒杯之间忙碌着转换角色

你们也应该看到了

头上倒悬的剑一簇簇排开

腊月的尽头或许就是你们蒙难的时辰

在这之后阳光依然照耀人世

***

Associations Triggered by a Statue of a Great Man

Thinking of those poor people

How hard it was for them

To get through a long and fanatical period of worship

From the erection of the shrine to its return to dust

Now you are gilded once again

Statues and idols have shifted time and again

And the world has changed beyond recognition

 

The water tower on the left seems to be raising its arm in a shout

How many monsters and demons have fallen from their horses in its wake

The chimney on the right stands like a sharp sword piercing the sky

The struggles between political parties are bloody, every strike drawing blood

Ten years, and even the years that followed

Abstract words like political stance and ideological movements

Have truly merged into the cells and blood of a generation

 

Today, the June sun emerges from behind the clouds

Beneath the dazzling glare

Your towering statue glows with golden light once more

Rational admiration is different from conversion to gods and Buddhas

Yet in this season, I would rather

Be an underground worker, walking in the cool shade of trees

In the bustling throng of people

Finding my kind without needing any secret signals

***

由一尊伟人塑像引发的联想

想起那些可怜的人们

是怎样艰难地

度过了一个漫长又狂热的崇拜期

从供奉的树立乃至归于尘土

如今你再次镀了金身

塑像与偶像几经转换沧海已成桑田

 

左侧水塔在奋臂高呼

有多少牛鬼蛇神随之纷纷落马

右边的烟囱似一柄利剑直插云霄

政党与政权的搏杀刀刀见血

十年，直至之后的若干年

政治立场，思想运动这些抽象的词汇

都实实在在的融入了一代人的细胞与血液

 

今天六月的阳光从阴云背后钻出

在耀眼的强光下

你伟岸的塑像再次发出金子的光芒

理性的崇拜区别于对神佛的皈依

这个季节我却更愿意

做一个地下工作者，行走在凉爽的林荫里

在熙熙攘攘的人流中

不用任何暗号接头也能找到我的同类

________________

Read: In the Depths of Night