by Ye Lijun (translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain).

是风， 在拍打着杉树皮的屋顶
我总是埋着头。屋子外面，许多草叶
越过了栅栏
在山中奔跑。风声里，我总是
忘记了时间
或者季节。那握住
又松开的掌心，纵横交错的
命运——我记得，我有过五月
和蓝色星空下作出的诺言
我曾经归来⋯⋯一次又一次
在后院
埋下了种子、错失和爱

   ♦  ♦  ♦

Wind whacks the fir-bark roof

and I bow my head low. Outside my house, grass and leaves

arch over fences

and sprint up the mountains. In the wind, time

or season

slips my mind. Palm clenches

and loosens, an intertwined

destiny—I remember how I pulled through May

and made a promise under the stellar sky

I have returned . . . Again and again

in the backyard

I plant seeds, mistakes, love

from Poetry NorthwestMore by Fiona Sze-Lorrain from the libraryMore by Ye Lijun from the library

Copyright © Ye Lijun. English translation and bios copyright © Fiona Sze-Lorrain, 2017.
Used with the permission of the author on behalf of Poetry Northwest.