death is a place

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Heron Rises From The Dark, Summer Pond

So heavy

is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,

always it is a surprise

when her smoke-colored wings

open

and she turns

from the thick water,

from the black sticks

of the summer pond,

and slowly

rises into the air

and is gone.

Then, not for the first or the last time,

I take the deep breath

of happiness, and I think

how unlikely it is

that death is a hole in the ground,

how improbable

that ascension is not possible,

though everything seems so inert, so nailed

back into itself--

the muskrat and his lumpy lodge,

the turtle,

the fallen gate.

And especially it is wonderful

that the summers are long

and the ponds so dark and so many,

and therefore it isn't a miracle

but the common thing,

this decision,

this trailing of the long legs in the water,

this opening up of the heavy body

into a new life: see how the sudden

gray-blue sheets of her wings

strive toward the wind; see how the clasp of nothing

takes her in.

–Mary Oliver

Sunday, September 1, 2013

妈妈 (Child)

A poem, 'simultaneously unbearable and exquisite,'

in Chinese with English translation by Alex Tang,

a Toronto-based earthquake engineer.

孩子（Mom)

快 (Hurry up)

抓紧妈妈的手 (Tightly hold your Mom’s hand)

去天堂的路 (The road to heaven)

太黑了 (is too dark)

妈妈怕你 (Mom is afraid that)

碰了头 (you hit your head)

快 (Hurry up)

抓紧妈妈的手 (Tightly hold your Mom’s hand)

让妈妈陪你走 (Let Mom keep you company)

妈妈 (Child)

怕 (I am afraid)

天堂的路 (The road to heaven)

太黑 (is too dark)

我看不见你的手 (I cannot see your hand)

自从 (since)

倒塌的墙 (the wall collapsed)

把阳光夺走 (it took the sun light away)

我再也看不见 (I cannot see )

你柔情的眸 (your lovely eyes again)

孩子 (Mom)

你走吧 (You can go)

前面的路 (the road in front of you)

再也没有忧愁 (has no sorrow any more)

没有读不完的课本 (there are no books that you cannot finish reading)

和爸爸的拳头 (and your father’s fist)

你要记住 (you have to remember)

我和爸爸的摸样 (my face and your father’s face)

来生还要一起走 (let’s finish walking this road together in our next life)

妈妈 (Child)

别担忧 (do not worry)

天堂的路有些挤 (the road to heaven is a bit crowded)

有很多同学朋友 (I have a lot classmates and friends)

我们说 (we all say)

不哭 (don’t cry)

哪一个人的妈妈都是我们的妈妈 (anyone’s Mom is our Mom)

哪一个孩子都是妈妈的孩子 (any child is Mom’s child)

没有我的日子 (the days without me)

你把爱给活的孩子吧 (give your love to the children alive)