Jazz for a Rainy Midday

By Cheng Lie

A roadside café. At midday.
The air secretly contains sorrow
rain, and an intersection presented by it
a slanted police box, a bus stop, an express bus
loungers and a newspaper yesterday.
Outside a store, shopwindow remains the same
traffic lights suddenly changed
an attractive female flavour is spreading through the air
which makes everything around it blank.
Where I stand, rain is a confluence of sweets
stripes on crosswalk occupy moving vividness,
umbrellas climb onto the flyover, separated by the street,
some people southward, others northward
they're in a hazy state of confusion
the distance tucks away the truth of an event.
Whether it's close or far away, it implies a meaningful glance
-without dizziness, not even guesswork-
quiet and idle steps invent ardor.
with the rain first and rose last
the alchemy of time is just attributed to nothingness.

2000/ translated by Chen Zihong

午间下雨的爵士乐

程烈

午间。咖啡馆。
空气中隐含着哀伤
雨水，经由它呈现的十字街口
倾斜的岗亭，站台，直达公交车
躺椅和一张属于昨天的报纸。
在一个商店外面，橱窗依旧
红绿灯突然改变了方向，
空气里好闻的女人味正传向四方
让周围的一切黯然失色。
在我站立的地方，雨水是甜蜜的汇合点
斑马线上的条纹占据着流动的色彩，
雨伞向天桥攀升，隔开一条街
一些人向南，一些人向北
处于交织不清的朦胧状态中
距离掩饰了一件事情发生的真实性。
从走近到远去都暗含一个眼神
没有眩晕，甚至猜测
沉静而闲散的脚步虚构了爱。
最初的雨水最后的玫瑰
时间的炼金术它归于乌有。

2000年