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
路
"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.