"Wild Cranes" Four poems by Nirmal Ghosh (translated into Chinese by Liuyu Ivy Chen)
The “Wild Cranes” poetry and calligraphy exhibition featuring works by Nirmal Ghosh, Liuyu Ivy Chen, Zhao Xu, and Tanya Ghosh will be held at the Chinese American Museum, DC from 12 to 19 July 2021.
1.
How long can one gaze into the green hills,
Between curtains of rain?
The dribble of water down the gutter
Measures our minutes on this Earth.
***
透过雨帘，
你能凝望青山多久？
雨水滴入沟槽
倒数我们在地球上的一分一秒。
*** *** ***
2.
The wind rattles the shuttered house,
The late afternoon brings a spatter of rain.
Inside the rooms are bare,
In the dark there are no shadows.
But once a little girl laughed here,
She threw open the windows
And let in the rain.
***
风刮得百叶窗咯吱作响，
雨水在傍晚前溅落。
屋里空无一物，
阴影遁形在黑暗中。
有一个小女孩曾在这里欢笑，
她突然打开窗
让雨淋进来。
*** *** ***
3.
I am impatient, annoyed
At this futile rain
Shrouding my morning
When I would rather be somewhere else.
Somewhere with more colour,
Red doors and Mediterranean blue walls,
The warmth of a summer place,
Under the shade of the ancient banyan tree
There are baskets high with red chilies,
Green cucumbers and the ripe lychee,
Yellow limes and green papayas…
Somewhere on the Pearl River perhaps
Down by the iron bridge at Hue
In the old Citadel
Where you once commanded me to
Read you secret messages
While I bathed your feet in rose water
And lost entire lifetimes in your eyes.
***
我心烦意乱，坐立不安
这徒劳的雨
笼罩着这个清晨
而我却心在他乡。
那色彩斑澜的远方，
红门和地中海蓝墙，
被夏天晒暖，
在古榕树荫下
柳条篮里盛满红辣椒、
绿黄瓜和熟荔枝，
黄柠檬和青木瓜……
或在香水河上顺流而下
在顺化的铁桥下
在古皇城里
你曾在那里命令我
为你朗读秘密信件
我把你的双脚沐浴在玫瑰水中
在你眼里失去了我的整个人生
*** *** ***
4.
There are angles, shafts of light,
Fugitive shadows
in the room where I live.
Memories of perfume,
her neck bent in golden afternoon
lazy smooth skin
music
Have you seen me anywhere?
Have you met me by chance
on the stairs of the old library,
across the street one morning perhaps
lost in thought, the sound of footsteps
and far conversation, scrap of laughter?
Or was it just the breeze
in a strange country
a different language
a different time?
Here as night closes in,
reaches into my life
to blow out the candles,
where will you be?
Down by the river watching the lights?
Or up in the mountains under the moon?
At random business lunch,
Red wine and ravioli?
Maybe you passed me on the highway one time
staring back at you momentarily
through the back window of a bus;
or maybe you saw me one time
in the eyes of a man?
I know I have seen you
here and in many places;
By a river once with the sun in your hair
you turned to me,
and I saw in your eyes
this dance of our lives.
***
有角度、有光线，
阴影逃遁在
我住的房间里。
香水的记忆，
她的脖子弯在金色的午后
慵懒光滑的肌肤
音乐
你在哪里见过我吗？
你是否曾和我偶遇
在老图书馆的楼梯上，
或在一个清晨过马路时
陷入沉思，脚步声
远处的谈话，零星的笑声？
或许只是一阵
异国他乡的微风
不同的语言
不同的时间？
夜幕降临，
伸入我生命的幽暗处
蜡烛熄灭后，
你会去哪里？
在河下游看灯？
还是在山上的月光里？
在享用商务午餐，
红酒和意大利饺？
或许你曾在高速公路上与我错过
我从一辆公车的后窗望出去
曾瞬间与你对望；
或许你曾在一个男人的眼里
见过我一次？
我知道我见过你
不仅在这里，还在许多地方；
有一次在河边，你的头发沐浴着阳光
你转身看我，
我在你的眼中看到了
我们生命的这种舞蹈。
*** *** ***
Nirmal Ghosh is a foreign correspondent, writer, filmmaker, and wildlife conservationist. He currently serves as The Straits Times’ US Bureau Chief in Washington DC. When he is not reporting on worldly commotion, he can be found hiking in the wilderness and writing poetry.
Liuyu Ivy Chen is a poet, writer, and translator. Born and raised in the mountainous region of central Zhejiang, China, she was educated in Beijing and New York, and now lives in Atlanta. Co-founder of TransWords Translations LLC, she specializes in translating artistic materials between English and Chinese for artists and art museums around the world.
Zhao Xu is a calligrapher, painter, and art collector living in Beijing and Dalian. A disciple of renowned artist Yang Renkai, he graduated from and teaches at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is the first millennial Chinese artist to have work collected by The Palace Museum housed in the Forbidden City.
Tanya Ghosh is a photographer, high-end retoucher and artist based in New York City. Born in India, she spent her childhood in Singapore and went on to develop a background in design in Australia, eventually branching out to the U.S. She is constantly inspired by different cultures and feels like a child of the world.
