A Letter from the Tang Dynasty
by Luo Guoxiong
Tonight, a gravel-mine river rumbles a distance away,
splashing and giving the shore a touch of frost.
A whale-rider soars in and out of the stratosphere
to deliver a letter to me—from a swordsman, who
wouldn’t have cared if a bandit ran off with his homesickness.
A drunk genius, on a unceasing journey,
writes by a boat lantern about the frontier. Poet Li Bai is
far away from home, his countenance unearthly and passion untamed.
Awakened by an unexpected long sigh, I rise up to see
who’s knocking on the door, ah, only the moonlight. Looking out,
I see cool Mount Emei and sparkling Minjiang River.
A slim horse, tottering on the ancient road, the wind from the west,
rhymes or no rhymes, let us go home—
Millennial snow goes back to be only water drops.
The moon over Mount Emei, me in the mirror, thoughts of my forebearer,
a gray-haired poet, childlike,
drunk with snow, reaching for the moon to calm the soul——
A teardrop hangs on the electric wire, or is it dew?
I am drunk. But as long as hopes are not all shattered,
there will be dreams, serene mountains and rivers, starry sky,
roaring waves, on the brink of drowning. The night is deep,
the dreams on paper bring out a new dream: moon in the sky,
let the night be forever young,
so that both the letter sender and the recipient
can safe keep their hopes in the deep of the heart.
Translated by Duck Yard Lyricists
Duck Yard Lyricists is a group of devoted poetry lovers: Meifu Wang, Peter Micic, Michael Soper & Johan Ramaekers.
罗国雄，上世纪70年代初生于四川眉山，现居四川乐山，四川诗歌民刊《诗行》主编。作品散见《人民日报》《人民文学》《诗刊》《解放军文艺》《上海文学》《青年文学》《星星》《草堂》《中国诗歌》《四川文学》《诗选刊》《诗歌月刊》《延河》《诗潮》《绿风》《滇池》《飞天》《青春》《青年作家》《散文诗》《散文诗世界》等报刊，入选多种诗选本和“中国.512地震诗歌墙”，著有诗集《幸福燕》《遍地乡愁》，主编《乐山百年新诗选》，“老乐山”系列丛书等。
本诗由 PATHSHARERS BOOKS（美国同道出版社）
Duck Yard Lyricists 翻译
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