— Dedicated to the Years That Bear Us
I know a river
Which is called the Yellow River
Which is Salar’s eternal memory
And far-reaching echo
Of the river
— Preface
1.
Meeting on the bank
In a rainy season
To tolerate time with deep gratitude
It is the trend of the river
It is the cruel idea of the midsummer
Owing to the trend of my life
Not to be shrouded by the permeating smoke
To plunge oneself into the crowd of city
To gaze at the flowing fragrant cloud like a ball of fire
Like waiting for the son on the horseback to set off
Invariably belongs to the vast wilderness
Standing here is not the bitter north wind that belongs to me
Or a group of coquettish wild horses
Lingering on the land of the mind
The strong gale identified by the flesh and soul
In vogue for a while the storm which attacks from time to time
Infused with brains inebriated
The wilderness penetrated by the soul
2.
Only the experience of life creates miracles
Only birth or death in the shadow of love
Trickling into a long ballad
Or it is the palm handed over by us
To touch the silent ground shedding tears like rain
3.
Now the sky like a mirror
The hawk leaves a deep trace in the blue
And the trend of human beings is the trend of the river
O long river when the ship of thought sinks deep into the river bed
Where shall my ship run aground?
Now the flowing fragrant cloud
Floats across the roof of the sky flowing toward the bank
Looking up toward the boundless sky
4.
But the cry of the baby is like a silver snake dragging countless sons and grandsons
Walking across the water back to the place where the sun returns to its nest
To produce a hoarse voice which is reversal of past the behavior
Imagining the aged mother
But with the same connotation of life
But with the same suggestion of crickets’ chirping
Onto the bank sons and grandsons of life
The long-awaited carriage
Has been shaken by the distant mountains
5.
The melancholy eyes are penetrating
The ancient tale the remote events
Gazing for long but without the ship to escape
Only in the empty wilderness in the wind
Raising the stubborn head
6.
Climbing the treetop by the river your heart is moved
Except for walking skeleton there is no sign of degeneration
The river watcher is at ease the view of the bridge is at ease
The sun sits by itself at the silent ferry
Without weeping willows and without tranquil lakes to visit
Your budding thought they are mere nobodies
Half man and half beast all have proverbs to be cut open by the earth:
About Adam and Eve
Like a pair of eyes of a walking person
Out of the door the mountain greets
Behind the door it is the river O mountain and river
For the existent the origin of the world
The fleet gazes at the floating cloud overhead
Flowing past agedly — let the master of the river wonder and marvel
Whose feet attempt to step into the same river?
In face of the attack of a storm a wisp of smile still remains intact
Lo the thought enveloped in bitter water is building a nest in your belly
7.
In summer there is always a person with the scorching sun
Who clusters round the black circling overhead
To prepare a burning torch for joy and pain
To be entangled in the process of a season then
To boldly conceive the day that reaches a great height
In the last moment facing the eternal river
They replace wordless tears with blood
Like an undying bird struggling out of the cage
The defined hell is destroyed in the attack of a storm
Summoning boatmen, rivers and ships
Haunting the land, gorging and disgorging stars
Freedom is still the trend of the river
Waiting for the land and the thinking mode of the land
A head in place of another head
To pursue a black hawk which is wounded
At the moment when the land quakes
Sudden enlightenment in new birth: 365 days
Produce 365 tales of soul possession
Hatch the primitive shell to stir in straining of interpretation
Lo we are born
The birth pangs have surprised a large blossom of floating cloud
Without complaint without lament
The sun flies over our heads
Alliance with the river to become the posterity of mountains
It is life and death behind truth
To produce the waving sound of a century
8.
Like the shadow of a standing snake full of sorrow
To stand upside down the nobility and prosperity of the sun
Fling off the cruelty of lie lingering fear persists in the heart
Now the sun walks toward infinity in the return of life
To seal up dawn and choose another morning twilight
— Light and darkness existence and emptiness
It is trembling with fear when body and mind tilt and lean
A decisive battle with the head in defeat converging into a river
9.
But I am still silent like a mountain
Standing beside the bank contemplating the river
And like the starry sky the huge wing covers the endless night
And the shrunk body behind the mountain
Is trembled with heavy footsteps while apperceiving a piece of pure land
Baptizing in the river
Therefore in the posture of pilgrims
We walk across the bank as leisurely as possible
Gazing for whom in the dusk
And the west wind is past
Without revealing a more intrinsic day
10.
It turns out to be the shadow wading across the river beach
Weeping for whom in meat pudding
In dusk the lonely boat which belongs to us is out of bank tentatively
Temporarily stranded in the narrow belt between the north and south poles
In a trance to realize the alternating days and nights
Out of the door the mountain greets
Behind the door it is the river
Like two substantial idols
The shadow approaches the stone wall from afar to near
There is no lamp or light in the empty world
No echo in spite of the footsteps of crickets
11.
Only the sound of summer waves blows into the ear once and again
Throughout the lengthy night to warn drowsy people
It is you who have bound away the shadow which I adore
It is the only unprecedented existence and our
Short life is no more than an exception
To this existence to drive the head hanging low
High-spirited in vast and mighty torrent
Consistently in the belt overgrown with weed
Filled with ideals, belief, herds and flocks on the hillside
Or I feel something the temptation of an idea
12.
Or it is a kind of substantial existence