Untitled on Qingming
By Ye Yanbin 叶延滨 (1948- )
Light a piece of incense
Because today is Ancestors Day
Burn a stack of brown paper
Because I came back
The cypress trees by the grave are taller
Me and my mom are parted for one more year
The name on the headstone is scraped off by rain
And once again I use a gold color pen to repaint it
The three familiar characters, but I call it mom instead!
Every year I come back here on this day
Because here is my mom’s grave
Silently I stare at my mom’s name
Together with these two cypress trees-
Ah, so many times my mom held me
And her hands carried me into this world!
But I only carried her once, ah, carried her here,
So she can rest between the cypress trees!
Because today is Ancestors Day-
And here, on this station of live to dead
I make this poem a train ticket!
Because today is Ancestors Day-
Quietly I close my eyes
And I see my mom,
And she opens her mouth and says:
“Child, today you are not an orphan.”
Note:
This poem I got from the <<2010 Chinese Poetry Anthology>>, I felt it and translated it here for sharing.
Qingming is Ancestors Day.
