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
深邃而深入的拂晓
——预示着在时间成为灰烬以前，
穿过南面沉着而庄重的屋宇
把一贫如洗的老街撤退到隐蔽的角落，
从一个街区向另一个街区转移。
开始消退的时光，带着布衾的味道
占据了如此安逸的寂静
幽深的庭院空无一人；
一扇大门佝偻着吱嘎作响脱离门坎
直到有人说出答案
和转身时露出的遗憾
然后高举着手爬上前额舒缓的斜坡——
在仔细梳理过的路面
和喷出的烟雾之间
同熟睡的门户一一道别。
深深的黑黝黝的微风
夜晚的幽灵，
跨进一个缄默的地点
城市孤独的细致处，
树叶飘飞，贴上褐色大地的床
两具肉体宛转相就。
为了某个不加猜测的字母
黑暗把它的疲倦丢在一条破败的街上，
游荡的人狐疑着低语一声
黎明已经完成它的布置，
看到空无一物的十字路口
月亮垂下它的眼睛。
2002年
