Chinese Micropoems

Chinese Micro-poems

微型诗 Chinese Micro Poems

-- translated by Jan Walls

(Chinese originals found scattered around the Web)

"Blossoming Plum" --by Zhang Mingzhao

The sound

of gorgeous laughter in the cold

stirs the chill winter

梅 --张明昭

一声

冷艳的笑

惊栗了寒冬

Bird in a Cage -- by Yi Fan

As all other functions atrophy

nothing but that little mouth

flourishes

笼中鸟 --伊凡

一切功能都在退化中

唯独那张小嘴

最发达

Sincerity --by Han Shanshi

As soon as sincerity opens its mouth

heart in hot pursuit

charges out of throat

真诚 --寒山石

真诚只要一开口

心 就会紧追着

冲出咽喉

"Spring Breeze" --by Han Shanshi

Mother Earth is a giant keyboard

your soft, gentle fingers

awaken every hibernating key

春 风 --寒山石

大地是一把巨琴呦

你纤柔的手指

弹醒了每一个冬眠的琴键

Candle --by Zhang Mingzhao

I weep

only because I can't light up

your darkness

《蜡烛》 --张明昭

流泪

只为照不亮

你的暗

Old Room --by Yao Yiqiang

Dust-covered memories

firmly locking up

a fresh and lively childhood

老屋 --姚益强

尘封的记忆

紧锁着

一个鲜活的童年

Self --by Yao Yiqiang

When Self shines

no need to fear

the long journey through the dark night

自己 --姚益强

自己发着光

就不怕

黑夜远行

The Lie --by Yao Yiqiang

The lie is a knife

The bloodsucker is its disciple

谎言 --姚益强

谎言是一把刀

饮血的是它的信徒

Moonlight --by Yao Yiqiang

Frosty gaze

chills thousands of home town dreams

月光 --姚益强

带霜的目光

冷了千家的乡梦

Mountain Town --by Yao Yiqiang

Bird: "The mountain forest has faded away

all man-made nests

now I have to emigrate

山城 --姚益强

鸟说:山上的森林变色了

都是人筑的窝

我只有移民他乡了

Blossoming Plum --by Yu Ren'en

Unlike all others

she only laughs

in the winter's bitter cold

梅 --喻仁恩

与众不同

只笑在

最冷最冷的冬天

Dream --by Yu Ren'en

Once again, opening a whole new web

with super-human mystical remote sensing

seizing bright spots in the darkness

梦 --喻仁恩

重新开发一片网络

以超人而神秘的遥感

捕捉黑洞中的亮点

Bird in a Cage --by Zhu Zhaorui

In dreams

beak preening feathered wings

笼中鸟 --朱兆瑞

在梦里

用喙梳理翅膀

Random Thoughts (1) --Zeng Jilin

Helping others over rugged roads

better to level the roads

杂感(一) --曾吉林

搀扶别人走崎岖路

不如将路铲平

Blood-sucking Mosquito --by Mu Ren

Your veins are my pocket

This is my invention

my short-cut to wealth

吸血蚊 --穆仁

你的血管就是我的口袋

这是我发明的

简捷致富法。

Pleasant Surprise (2) --by Lan Feng (Blue Maple)

Wooden gate heavily, lightly pushed,

a smile, right behind the gaze through the crack

pops out

《惊喜》(2) --蓝枫

木门沉重轻轻推

微笑紧随目光 从缝里

蹦出来

Life --by Han Feng

I passionately love the snowstorms on the road

every dusk and every dawn.....

grasping destiny in my own hands.

<<人生>> --塞风

我热恋风雪路上

每一个黃昏和黎明......

把命运紧握在自己手中

Zyther --by Shen Shen

If just one of the strings

is too tight or too loose

it can hurt the music lover

<<琴>> --申身

其中有一根弦

过紧过松

都会伤了知音

Apartment Window --Fei Ma

Look out there Look out there Look out there

bulging eyes in the fishbowl

lonely apartment window

《公寓的窗》 --非马

往外看 往外看 往外看

金鱼缸的凸眼

寂寞公寓的窗

Drum Beat --by Fei Ma

The hairy fist again and again

firmly lands on a dispute-weary

civilization's chest

《鼓声》 --非马

毛茸茸的拳头一下下

扎实地落在一个欲辩无力

文明的胸膛上

Fog --by Fei Ma

Moist eyes

pitifully

watching humanity

《雾》 --非马

湿润的眼睛

悲悯

看人间

Snow --by Fei Ma

Falling, falling

on a homesick face until it becomes

a hot subtropical shower

《雪》 --非马

下著下著

在想家的脸上 竟成了

亚热带滚烫的阵雨

Father's Palms --by Fu Yuexin

Thick callouses polishing the years

fingertips gently gliding through

the sound of growing kids and crops

《父亲的手掌》 --傅月心

厚厚的老茧磨亮了时光

指尖上轻轻滑过了

儿女和庄稼拔节的声响

Father's Love --by Fu Yuexin

A vine in blood vessels wriggling

every nook and cranny of life

loaded with springtime

《父亲的爱》 --傅月心

一根藤蔓在血管中蜿蜒

生命的每一个角落

都结满了春天

Father's Smile --Fu Yuexin

A lark in the tree tucks in its wings

awakens with its song a vision of mountainous green

《父亲的笑容》 --傅月心

百灵到树上收起了翅膀

啼醒 一山青翠的目光

"Said the Screw to the Nail" -- by Tang Shuting

No matter how sharp the point, blunt force won't work

Only by repeatedly turning the head

is there room to maneuver

《螺丝钉对钉子说》 -- 唐淑婷

头再尖,也不可硬碰

多转动脑子

方有回旋余地

"Mother's Day Without Mother" -- by Tang Shuting

Acid rain shower

carnations of May

corroded countenance

《没有母亲的母亲节》 唐淑婷

一场酸雨

五月的康乃馨

蚀了颜色

"Weekend Morning" by Tang Shuting

Staying here under the nice warm blanket, this

supplementary sleep is so delicious

spiritual satiety

《周末之晨》 唐淑婷

且盖上热乎的被窝,这

回笼觉喷香着

精神 饱

"That Lovely Name" by Tang Shuting

Having hung from the mouth

lips and teeth

retain the fragrance

《芳名》 唐淑婷

挂嘴上

唇齿

留香

"Submerged Reefs" by Tang Shuting

The subsurface rule of setting out to sea

Do you understand, Boat?

《暗礁》 唐淑婷

下海的潜规则

船,可明了?

"Shoe" by Tang Shuting

When there is no way out

the way

is me.

《鞋》 唐淑婷

走投无路之后

我 就是

"Skinny-dipping In Poetry"

by Tang Shuting

Moonlit water, calmly, quietly flowing,

all written words stripped of gorgeous garments,

swimming over to the upper reaches of a dream.

《在一首诗里裸泳》

唐淑婷

月光水,静静流淌

所有文字都脱去华丽的外衣

向梦的上游 泅渡

"Tortoise Bearing the Stone Tablet" by Tang Shuting

Borne on the back for a thousand years

the solid decorous script... unswervingly

steadfast

《驮碑龟》 唐淑婷

驮了千年

厚重的文字始终 坚定

不移

"Flaming Sunset Clouds" by Tang Shuting

mix the fierce pigment of the sun

daub it into a burning sunflower,

a touring exhibition in the Celestial Palace.

《火烧云》 唐淑婷

调 烈阳本色

涂抹燃烧的向日葵

巡展天宫

"The Road" by Tang Shuting

It often uses

annoying bumps

to wear down my sharp edges

《道路》 唐淑婷

它常用

坎坷

锉 我的尖锐

"Night in the Little Village" by Tang Shuting

The road takes all the tortuous ins and outs and buries them

in the mountain's embrace, from tile-roofed houses the crude sound of snoring

coaxes the blinking stars to sleep

《小村之夜》 唐淑婷

路把所有委曲埋入

山的怀抱,瓦房粗糙的鼾声

哄睡 眨眼的星

"Hometown Fog" by Tang Shuting

From tall standing mountain peaks, milk-white overflow

feeds my chubby childhood

reluctance to leave.

《故乡的雾》 唐淑婷

从高挺的山峰溢出的乳白

把我的依恋

哺得 胖墩墩

"Dewdrops" by Tang Shuting

So sleek, clinging to every leaf and petal,

exalted in no time

by the sun.

《露珠》 唐淑婷

圆滑。依附花花草草

迅速被太阳

提升

"Alone" by Tang Shuting

A cloudburst beats on eardrums

as the dark mass of night encroaches

I am surrounded.

《孤》 唐淑婷

暴雨擂耳鼓

夜 黑压压向我

包围

"History" by Yi Fan

Elapsed legends,

sediment in the endless stream of time,

fermenting.

历史 伊凡

流逝的故事

沉淀在岁月长河中

发酵

"Sail" by Yi Fan

Whole mind adrift,

weighing the distance to the shore

but finding no arrival time.....

"帆" 伊凡

好一颗漂泊的心

掂记着岸

却找不到归期……

"Rain in Winter" by Yi Fan

Congealed epigrams,

fluttering tender feelings

dissolve into piping hot romantic lines of poetry

"冬雨" 伊凡

凝固的隽语

纷飞的情意

溶化成滚烫而浪漫的诗行

"Sunset on the Open Sea" by Yi Fan

A choice collection of bold words

describing a life of lovely poetry

reserved for the stars.

大海日落 伊凡

集锦豪言壮语

抒写一生最美的诗篇

留给星辰

"Dark Clouds" (1) by Yi Fan

A whole night of poetic drafts concentrate

and when they mature

disperse.

乌云(一) 伊凡

结集一夜的诗稿

赶在成熟时

散发

"Dark Clouds" (2) by Yi Fan

Compilations of so much grief and worry

touched by so much love and care,

collected entirely by sunlight.

乌云(二) 伊凡

集成多少忧和愁

缠绵多少情与爱

全被阳光珍藏……

"White Clouds" by Yi Fan

Last night's unhappy phrases wrung out,

drying in the fresh air outside my window,

as lively and as lovely as before.

白云 伊凡

拧出昨夜不快的语句

晾在窗前

你依然活波可爱

"Bronze Ware" by Yi Fan

You were the sole leader of excellence in high antiquity.

Today, you are deductive history.

青铜器 伊凡

远古的你 独领风骚

如今的你 演绎历史

"Huanghuagang -- On the Monument to the

Republican Revolution" by Yi Fan

On a section of ice-cold stone wall

embedded with seventy-two living names

fresh blood of brave warriors seeps out from cracks.

黄花岗——题辛亥革命纪念碑 伊凡

一截冰冷的石墙上

嵌入七十二个活生生的名字

石缝里渗出勇士们的鲜血……

"Ants in the Cellar" by Tang Shuting

Dreams so blue, moonbeams so bright

Strive to lift these up: bread loaves, love, and

declarations unwilling to grow old.

《地下室蚁族》 唐淑婷

梦蓝蓝,月光光

力图扛起:面包、爱情和

不肯老的宣言

"Suspended Coffins" by Yi Fan

The wind in the canyon

tells the tale of an ancient tribe

unwilling to be buried.

悬棺 伊凡

峡谷的风

诉说着一个古老的部落

不肯入土的故事

“Folding Fan" by Tang Shuting

Ostentatious

discounted air.

Cool?

《折扇》 唐淑婷

招摇

打折的风气

凉乎?!

"Walking Along a Country Road" by Tang Shuting

Narrow, steep country road -- perfect excuse for holding hands.

Clusters of tiny subtle blossoms -- so much to say that can't be said aloud.

《走在乡路上》 唐淑婷

窄窄陡陡的乡路,正好楔合一个牵手的借口。

几丛小花淡淡簇簇,一叶心事欲说还羞。

"On Returning to My Old Home" by Táng Shūtíng

New lotus leaves resound to the beat of frogs,

weeping willows dance to the charm of cicadas,

the local brogue in full bloom everywhere.

“回乡偶书” 唐淑婷

新荷擂响蛙鼓

垂柳曼舞蝉韵

朵朵乡音, 如莲盛放

"Random Thoughts on the Alumni Association" by Tang Shuting

Time is heavy,

pressing wrinkles on faces

in every photo.

"同学会偶感" 唐淑婷

时间很重

把一张张旧面

压皱

"Evening Song from a Fishing Boat" by Táng Shūtíng

His rubber boots

wade through half a river's moonlight

to dry in the warmth of her gaze

"渔舟唱晚"

阿哥的水鞋

涉过 半江月色

晾在妹暖洋洋的目光里

"Single Bed" by Táng Shūtíng

Dream this night, dense in incense

just right to fill the gap

at the end of winter

"单人床" 唐淑婷

今夜有梦,香稠

恰好用来填补

残冬的缺口

"Combing My Hair" by Táng Shūtíng

How to straighten out those malicious entanglements

that confound right and wrong?

The harder I try the messier they get.