Poems of Yue Qi

Lady Banks' Rose   

Dusk is when you will miss me

sunshine or rain

i like them both

if the western courtyard had

another Lady Banks' Rosebush

I would sleep more soundly

（Tr.Zhang Ziqing）

Walden Pond

(Tr.Zhang Ziqing, Edited by Rodger Martin)

It hasn't snowed here yet,

Thoreau and time have frozen together.

A humble log cabin,

my footprints are deep here.

In the forest, together with squirrels,

rabbits and passers-by; 

in front of Thoreau and Walden Pond,

I hear my heart beating,

Forget autumn in Boston,

it's going to snow here soon.

I pick up a chestnut by the ice,

and learn how to chew the hardness

of life as Thoreau did.  What froze

in the pond melts in my mouth.

A train sounds far away.

It and time, who abandons whom?

Walden Pond still greets snow

and ice, but when Thoreau left,

I know, the nightingales were gone.

Sitting Alone in the Haystack 

A lone star appears

on the back

of a ladybug

like a puzzle

waiting to be solved

Its wings open

dreaming of flight

vibrating

at a certain frequency

Climbing the haystack

the rice paddy

in the distance

I plot a path

and start a dialogue

with the grass

Besides the stars above

there are other haystacks

My voice silent—

I sit alone and sleep

in the long night

The coarse hairs

of my beard

grow out

from my once

boyish face

The cow’s breath

affords me safety

It eats only

the fodder I feed

A hemp rope ties

our fates together

The old cow guards

the land quietly

and intertwined

My toe rips a cloud

and the stars

become my ante

I dream of a girl

The haystacks shift

while the white smoke

whiffs from the chimney

of the paper mill

The fumes of

someone’s cigarette

chokes the old heifer

Sitting in the haystack

by the rice paddy

no longer can

I smell my scent

or the cow’s

A heavy snow falls

in the winter

The ladybug freezes—

just the lone star

and the snow

remain on its back

（Tr.Rodney）

The Book of the End of the Year 

If it's the end, it's best not to talk.
Let everything in the past sink,
or let the water freeze.
No one owes
  anyone
    anything.

If it’s the beginning
do not let the cows ruminate their fill
with forage stained by the blood of my fingers,
less fires sit on piles
  of dung and chew
    a few more bites.

Who will dissolve the ice?
Let time again flow like water?
Zero marks a scale at the end of the year,
unknown as future,
  unknown as time,
     unknown as the final number. 
               （Tr.Rodger Martin）

Unforgettable Memories

When the locust branch stretches across the river pond
a locust flower falls.
Noisy water running through the leaves
change old clothes for summer.

Cicadas and frogs step by step

with the juvenile moon.
It is a little cold after holding hands.
Prickly rose, keep your eyes open.

Hide the words to be said in the clouds
from the cloud to the cloud.

Make a pot of Fuding Ming tea.
Yesterday’s sophora and japonica tangled.
Light rain rustling, frogs sound like numbness.
The wind chimes of the dream wet, the mind that has nowhere to go.
The shadow of the flower is blown away by the wind.
The small window is half open, one night watching the other.

Front and back scenery outside the window,
the moon is tied to the treetops, the wind is coming.
Old dreams and locust blossoms scattered on the surface of the river pond,
the moonlight is like water holding the pipa

（Tr.Yi-hai）

Yueqi is a member of Jiangsu Writers Association. She has been engaged in poetry and prose creation for a long time and participated in the planning of literary and artistic activities. Her works have been published in Poetry Magazine, Writers, Shanghai Literature, Yangzi River Poetry Journal, Poetry Monthly, Haiyan, Suzhou Magazine, Shanghai Writers, Shanghai Poets, Qingdao Literature, etc.

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