Oh green bird,
As long as you are my love,
God is in the sky.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
When I am in love by Nizar Kabbani
When I am in love
I become a liquid light
And in my notebook
The poems become
Fields of mimosas and daisies.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
Your eyes are like a rainy night by Nizar Kabbani
Your eyes are like a rainy night,
My boats sink in them,
My writing disappears in their reflection,
Mirrors have no memory.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
Oh traveler by Nizar Kabanı
Oh traveler,
After ten years,
You are still
Like a spearhead in my side.
translated by Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
The day I met you by Nizar Kabbani
The day I met you
I tore up
All my maps and my prophecies
And became like an Arabian horse.
I smell the scent of your rain
Before it makes me wet,
I hear the rhythm of your voice
Before you speak
I undo your braids
Before you plait them.
translated y Bassam K. Frangieh & Clementina R. Brown
mixing lines from Wei Ying-wu and T’ao Ch’ien for friends both now and then dear to my heart: the ebb and flow of time
there is the ebb
and flow
of time
and we old friend
are participants
we are young
we are old
we embrace
countless times
in greeting in farewell
leaving each time
a thousand streams
of tears
wondering when
if ever
all this coming
and going
will end
and we can finally sit
in the shade
of some distant tree
a glass of whiskey
in our hands
and time
once and for all
on our side
To Secretary Yang by Wei Ying-wu
Colleagues have scattered and gates are closed
the calling of birds fills a mountain town
our parting on the Yangtze seems so long ago
I notice the empty mat beside me
the boats on South Lake are moored because of rain
the screens at North Tower are rolled up due to wind
wine-tasting parties are canceled
I regret our time together has passed
translated by Red Pine
this seems appropriate now with the hard winter approaching: To My Cousins by Wei Ying-wu
Late last year when the capital was being looted
I sent letters by back roads to see if you survived
your answer has suddenly fallen from the sky
all we know of each other are a thousand streams of tears
translated by Red Pine
Written in Response to Court Gentleman Liu on Meeting and Parting at the South Wall on the Way Back to Yangchou on a Spring Day by Wei Ying-wu
The third month in Yangchou the city was in bloom
we met and got drunk among the flowers
we were going different directions but not very far
what the evening tide took away the morning tide brought back
translated by Red Pine
On Encountering Evening Rain While Seeing Off Li Wei by Wei Ying-wu
River of Ch’u in light rain
evening bells of Chienyeh
rows of sails spreading out
birds disappearing slowly
Ocean Gate too far to see
riverside trees a distant green
there’s no end to goodbye
a pair of silk streams soak my sleeves
translated by Red Pine
