Fan Jinghua: Song of Spring Excursion

　　　Song of Spring Excursion

　　So intricate is the interlacement of clove branches
　　That flowers stretch over the balustrade to the sunset.
　　　　　　　　　　-- Li Ho, “Hard to Forget”

When you go down there up the plum hill,
High spring will drown you with bees from auspicious delta,
And there will be no butterflies or me, as I am here, absent.
If the rain does not come like an unwitting ex-lover,
You may hurry off the thick garment of northern country
And drive away the deepening middle-aged love.
Petals rain down, something tender and fragile is
Exposed, to match the trees in burgeoning sprouts.
Your dark colored skirt may fend off the relapses of cold snap,
While the thousand-year-old stone soldiers stand by
The sacred passage, guarding against the never competent evil.
Among the flowers, you are to forget their vivid alertness,
For nothing saddens you any more there. And only willows will tell:
Flowers boom all of a sudden, and flowers fall one by one.
　　　　　　　　　　　Feb. 24-25, 2008

　　　　踏青

　　乱系丁香梢，满栏花向夕。
　　　　　——李贺《难忘曲》

为你的抵达，梅花山上的江南之春
已备好满梢的蜜蜂，在一片上好的风水中；
而我缺席在远方，没有化为蝴蝶。
如果雨不会像一个不智的前恋人那样犯嫌，
你将匆匆脱掉北国的厚衣与日渐沉积的
中年之爱的浮膘。花瓣权当骤雨，一夜，
某种柔嫩与脆弱的内在的须将暴露出来，
树枝上淡绿的叶芽暗中较劲，鼓胀的不是珠胎。
当你以深色的裙子挡住了乍暖还寒，
那神道上千年的守卫依旧一脸警惕，
千年的阴风始终无力，不比残花能钻入你的膝间；
而你钻入花丛，不想他们保鲜多年的神情。
江南再无令你伤心的人事，只有柳枝还会说：
花儿开得轰轰烈烈，花儿落得奄奄一息。
　　　　　　　　　　2008年2月25日