Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Two Observations


By X. Z. Shao
 

1

On a wooden

arch bridge,

stands a man

in full moonlight,

facing a lake,

flanked by hills

with breathless trees,

amid birdschirps.

 

2

A tall trunk

of a dead tree

on which

an egret perched

in the moonlit

lake water,

has been barren,

decaying,

getting smaller

year by year.

     2015/11/23

Monday, November 23, 2015

A moth, (two poems)


By X. Z. Shao

 

A moth,

dead on a piece of paper,

seemed alive .

I dusted it into the air

from my sixth-floor balcony.

It flew in the morning sunlight,

whirling downward,

swaying in the wind,

like a light flower,

hilarious and happy,

under the magic of gravity.

How beautiful

its last journey was

towards eternity.

       Morning, 2015/11/22



 

一只飞蛾,

X. Z. Shao

 

一只飞蛾,

死在一张纸上,

却看似活着。

从六楼阳台,

我把它轻弹到空中。

在奇妙引力作用下,

它飞翔在晨光中,

旋转下行,

随风摇摆,

像一朵轻盈小花,

心情愉快兴高采烈。

飘向永恒,

多美啊,

它最后的旅程!

       早晨,2015/11/22



I greet campus cleaners
By X. Z. Shao
 
I greet campus cleaners
the way I greet my friends.
I consider them rich and dignified
as the richest on earth.
It may be a twister.
How about this:
a million bucks
for one of your fingers,
ten millions for your hand,
and your head off
for all the worlds wealth.
If you dont want to take it
Then, you are the richest.
I see so many walk with all gold
and cry and stretch their hands for more.
They classify themselves
as poor and inferior
and prostrate under
those who they consider
as rich and superiors.
              2015/11/22




A Lamentation


By X. Z. Shao
 
As I walk in this scarred land, I also walk in your heart.
The Queen of all wonders has become a queen of bereavement.
With my hair loosen, face smeared and a black robe from my head to toe,
I moan for you, I kneel down scraping the earth until my nails break for you,
I cry as a woman in the ruin of Jerusalem did for you,
and I enter into a trance to plead for you.
 
Time and again, I offered you bouquets of flowers,
but you didnt want to take them, I put in place all my musicians
and play a music that may touch the heart of Hades,
but you didnt want to hear it, I received the Celestial Lake water
with my long hair and direct it onto the Earth,
but you made it unfit to drink, and I inspired sages and minstrels
to uplift, chastise, amend, entertain and enlighten you,
but you acted like a suitor in Odysseus house,
and I built havens that housed the guardian spirits of the earth,
but you dismantled them like an idiot on the throne of a king.
 
It is you, you and still you, dont blame any others
for having more share of the destructions than you.
Look at what is happening under your feet,
taste what you eat and smell the air your nose inhales,
jump and swim in the water that are supposed to bring your joy,
and hear the voiceless screams of the killings that have been done,
hundreds of millions of, hidden or in front of you.
 
What catastrophic scenes of carnage,
they could not have taken place without you;
they are the real pictures of your heart;
if your heart is not a ruin and refuses all my decorations,
then how can there be all those manifestations.
 
Discern the most heinous weakness inside you.
If the most foul beast within you is sitting on a splendid sedan chair,
do you play a lesser evil by carrying it on your shoulder,
or have the courage to refuse your servitude,
or have the guts to throw it into the chasm if it has already burdened you?
                  2015/11/19
   
 
 
哀歌(哀环境、人心)
By X. Z. Shao  Translated into Chinese by 姜荣景
 
我走在这满目苍夷的大地,也走在你心上。
美妙绝伦女王已变成了悲丧女王。
披着散发、满脸涂污,全身黑衣,
我为你哀恸,我跪在地上用手抓爬泥土直到指甲破裂,
犹如耶路撒冷废墟上哭泣的女人,我为你哭泣,
我进入狂迷恍惚状态为你乞求。
 
多少次我给你千百束鲜花,而你却无意接纳;
我命令全体乐师演奏那冥王都为之动容的乐曲,
而你却无心欣赏;我用长发把天池水引入大地,
而你却把它糟蹋得无法饮用;
我启示圣人和游吟诗人教导、斥责,娱乐和启蒙你,
而你却像奥德修斯府上的求婚者一般傲慢;
我建起了许多大地守护神灵的居所,
而你却像坐上王位的白痴把它们逐一捣毁。
 
全怪你自己吧,别怪他人所犯的罪孽比你深重。
举目四望,你脚下可有完整的土地?
尝尝你嘴里吃的东西,闻闻你鼻子呼吸的空气,
那本该为你带来欢乐的溪流,你还敢跃入其中畅游吗?
听听已被杀戮者无声的叫喊吧,
数以亿记,暗地里或在你面前的杀戮。
 
多么灾难深重屠杀的场景,
没有你的参与,这些本不会发生,
这是你内心真实的图景;
若非你心灵荒芜,并拒绝我的装点,
怎么会有这些外在表现。
 
辨别你内心深处最可恶的略根性吧!
倘若你内在最污秽野兽正坐在奢华的轿子上,
你是否充当邪恶的帮凶把它抬在肩上,
还是有勇气拒绝给它提供劳役,
或是有胆识把它抛入深渊,要是它已经成为你的重负?
                2015/11/20

A Prayer

An interpretation of my painter friend's works
for the Syrian child washed ashore to Greece, dead.
Also, for comforting countless aborted lives.
 
By X. Z. Shao
 
The Hand of Healing is upon you.
Return, your intimidated soul,
death is only a sleep.
From this pavilion,
the blue sea is open for you.
Can you see my face washed by tears?
The queen with a floral crown on
is here by your side,
singing a lullaby,
sleep, sleep, my child,
tomorrow you'll arise
and essay your wings
with newly-fledged pinions.
My heart is cotton
wrapping you up and gives you warmth.
Stars are holding a vigil for you,
and my long hair wet with dews
is singing a prayer in the wind.
Sleep, sleep, no more journeys
you are forced to take,
you have arrived safe at my shore.
           2015/11/16
 
 
 
 
祈祷,X. Z. Shao 英文笔并中译
叙利亚幼童死于船难,其尸体被冲刷到希腊海滩,举世皆惊。
画家余键为此事作画,余试解读,藉此为该幼童和所有命陨
母亲子宫的小生命祈福。
 
疗伤之手正抚慰着你,
归来,你受恐吓的灵魂,
死亡只是睡梦。
从凉亭看去
蓝色大海向你展开。
你是否觉察我泪流满面?
女王头戴花冠就在你身旁,
为你轻唱安眠曲,
睡吧,睡吧,我的孩子,
明天你就会起来,
试飞你新生丰满的羽翼
我心似柔棉
包裹着你,给你温暖。
星星为你守夜,
我夜露润湿的长发
在风中为你唱祷。
睡吧,睡吧,再也没人
逼迫你走上你不情愿的旅程,
你已平安抵达我的心港。
         2015/11/16








Sunday, November 15, 2015

Should human minds


By X. Z. Shao
 

Should human minds

be compared to sea creatures,

some are whales, some are sharks

some are croakers or any other species.

What we know as understanding

is a space kept by members of the same kind.

What we know as misunderstanding

is a conflict between different species.

Either one leaves the other

or ends up in the others belly.

They swarm and bump to each other,

sometimes violently, sometimes in peace.

Some tends to withdraw

to itself and use only sound device

to keep in touch with its group.

They all believe they have

a space to exist and wander around,

but no matter how far they swim,

wherever they reach,

however they communicate,

they have no idea about

what contains them and why they exist.

             2015/11/15

Saturday, November 14, 2015

A message

By X. Z. Shao

 

A message

I posted on my social media

was one minute old.

Taking another look,

I noticed it had been five.

The number soon became

one day, one month

and quickly one year ago,

like a bird flying to the past.

A friend I met and parted,

one month, two months,

one year, two years

and now becomes very old.

Time, I know what you can,

wait or slow down your pace,

until Im an innocent child again.

              2015/11/13