What is craved into rock
Is perhaps not imperishable
What gets printed
Isn’t necessarily immortal

Things floating away like hazy smoke
Are not absolutely doomed to vanish
The shooting star that plummets
Will not necessarily disappear

A sincere smile
And a glance like unheard lightning
Coming from the heart
Are far better
Than a solemn vow of love
That sounds like a thunderbolt

translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin