Liang Ping
(China)
Longquan Posthouse
The swift horse is a lightning,
The posthouse is bright with light, like the sun and the moon.
The hoofprints on the bricks of Han Dynasty are duplicated on the road of flagstones of Tang Dynasty,
A piece of ci-form poetry in Song Dynasty is trampled into Yuan drama,
To be dispersed along the Sichuan Road of Ming Dynasty which is perilous
Three thousand li from Longquan to Fengjie
There is only one beat, the rhythm of tarrying feudal officials and military plan,
Hurried and soothing, writing in dull, flat style.
The end of Qing Dynasty, the post route recedes in seclusion,
The hoofbeats are broken, far away,
A blossom after another blossom into the cover.
The Longquan Posthouse through seven dynasties of one thousand years,
The posters who are paid by the imperial court,
Only take one road in their life, which tolerates no mistakes.
The being-left-home feet can not walk out,
Checking the feudal official tallies and military secrets,
To change horses according to the order of priority of events,
And to fatten the left-over horse which is lean
And with long hair, to be in good spirits.
As for which county magistrate is to be promoted as the governor,
Which town is to be taken over,
A deaf ear is turned to.
The soul water in the Soul Mountain,
One scoop would dispel the distracting thoughts. An errand is an errand,
An underling is an underling, without any inordinate ambitions.
Broth and simple dishes to fill the belly, a bean-like light in the night,
Even without tallies and military secrets,
The correspondence of people, the interflow of goods and materials,
Are in regular order, without any mistake of “a single needle or a piece of thread”.
The Soul Mountain is running with mountain spring,
The integrity and fame of the posthouse through one thousand years,
Has cleansed dirt and filth, and the epiphany,
Really any river can be holy.
With the presence of a dragon. The soul water in Yuan and Ming dynasties
Has been changed into dragon water, and the moving of dragon head and tail,
Brings favorable weather here.
Peach flowers blossom wantonly, charming and fascinating before and after the house,
Each face is tinctured with red.
Later poetry is grown with branches and twigs,
And my poem drops down, fallen in mud and ground to dust,
Back to the post route which has disappeared.
Revised on October 9, 2016
© Trans. by Zhang Zhizhong
TALE OF A TREE
A tree of mystery
Encouraged by early summer
Turns freely into green…
(The seed was sown in May
This passionate month
Has been named the Tree-Planting Festival)
A fruit of mystery
Once fell and lost itself on this nameless land
Now no mystery, no more, right?
Here mishaps will not dominate
Here sorrows will not cover you up
But why fruit must bear?
Why much earlier than the season?
Too early to announce your maturity
It is the tree’s faults
The fruit also has faults
(This May has faults
And this earth has all the faults)
But to grow green
Is to grow wildly green
And leafy, enchanting
Gentle yet foolishly wild!
You should ignore all jealousy
From this ignorant wind
For faults have been done
All done
© Trans. by Jin Zhong
CAT’S EYE, HUMAN EYE
Inside the cat’s eye
There is a quiet fountain
Exchanging stares with her
Creates excitement
We are shot
By each other’s eyes
We all turn upside-down
Something just discovered about the cat
I want to tell her
She seems to realize it
By starting to whimper
I have seen the problems
But the cat still not quite aware
Assuming by turning herself over
She can resolve everything
So attempting to succeed
She turns over and over
My heart starts to suffer
For the struggling cat
For the eyes in my face
For the upside-downs we made
By exchanging stares
The cat follows up by overturning her body
Onto the earth
But I simply cannot follow
Never
© Trans. by Jin Zhong
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Liang Ping, is a member of the National Committee of Chinese Writers Association, a member of the Poetry Committee of Chinese Writers Association, vice chairman of Sichuan Provincial Writers Association, chairman of Chengdu Literary Federation, and chairman of Chengdu Writers Association, as well as editor-in-chief of Young Writers and Thatched Cottage Poetry, and he is an expert who enjoys special government allowances from the State Council. He has ever been the editor-in-chief of The Red Rock and The Star Poetry Periodical. He has published 10 poetry collections, such as The Places of Ba and Shu: Two Duets, The Amber-Colored Poland, Genealogy, and Every Dog Has Its Day, etc., as well as a collection of poetry criticism entitled The Reading Posture and a novel entitled Chaotianmen. He has won many domestic prizes such as the National Prize of “Five-One Project”, special award for the 2nd Chinese Books, Guo Moruo Poetry Award by Chinese Writers, and the golden award for Ba and Shu Literature and Art, etc.