Giving

Translated from Chinese by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen

Today thoughts strike me

In the drizzling spring rain

All flowers are amorous

I loudly recite Turgenev’s prose poem

“So beautiful, so fresh, these roses”

I see my, you see my

Young silhouette

Wandering on the hills

Shrouded by clouds and mists

Like a stray lamb

Fortunately a midnight oil-lamp

Is dedicated to the moonshine

Above my head

A smile keeps flickering

In the turbid fire

The wind is slapping the balustrades

And ringing the birds’ twitters

Scattered all over the ground

Good time doesn’t belong to me

All poets are old

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TINGDE WANG is a poet who has published over a thousand literary works and news articles in China and is a recipient of the Chinese University Excellent Book Award.