The Moon Right in Front of Me

By Cheng Lie

A dark and deep dawn
- it bodes ill before time becomes ashes,
it goes through calm and stately houses in the south
to retreat penniless old streets to hidden corners,
from one block to the next.
The fading hours, with the smell of a quilt
took possession of such a cozy silence
the deep courtyard was almost empty;
a bent door plank was separated from the doorway
until someone gave the answer and the regret
while turning around, his hand climbed up his forehead--
between the carefully cleaned road
and the smoke that spewed out
he said goodbye to the sleeping portal.
The deep dark breeze
the ghost of the night,
stepped into a silent place
somewhere details of the city solitary
leaves fluttering, affixed to the bed of brown earth
just like two bodies gently hugging each other.
For some alphabet, he's not suspicious of
the darkness left its tiredness on a dilapidated street,
people fooling around whispered with a suspicion
the dawn had finished its arrangement,
I saw the crossroads near-empty
the moon lowered its eyelids.

2002/ translated by Chen Zihong

面前的月亮

程烈

深邃而深入的拂曉
——預示著在時間成為灰燼以前，
穿過南面沉著而莊重的屋宇
把一貧如洗的老街撤退到隱蔽的角落，
從一個街區(qū)向另一個街區(qū)轉移。
開始消退的時光，帶著布衾的味道
占據了如此安逸的寂靜
幽深的庭院空無一人；
一扇大門佝僂著吱嘎作響脫離門坎
直到有人說出答案
和轉身時露出的遺憾
然后高舉著手爬上前額舒緩的斜坡——
在仔細梳理過的路面
和噴出的煙霧之間
同熟睡的門戶一一道別。
深深的黑黝黝的微風
夜晚的幽靈，
跨進一個緘默的地點
城市孤獨的細致處，
樹葉飄飛，貼上褐色大地的床
兩具肉體宛轉相就。
為了某個不加猜測的字母
黑暗把它的疲倦丟在一條破敗的街上，
游蕩的人狐疑著低語一聲
黎明已經完成它的布置，
看到空無一物的十字路口
月亮垂下它的眼睛。

2002年