最小的梅花

针尖上,最小的梅花开了
一会儿,我就藏起她的住所
她每一次的新生都有殷红的颜色
今天,除了草木的气息
还有一丝淡淡的血腥,怜惜这空旷
荒野的绽放,全身流溢的静寂

HELEN TAT (Trans.)

The littlest plum blossom

At the needle tip, the littlest plum blossom opens
In a moment, I store away her dwelling place
Her emergence every time has a deep red colour
Today, apart from the breath of the grass and trees
There is also a faint trace of bloodiness, pity this void
The wilderness blooms, the overflowing flow of silence



LUISETTA MUDIE (Trans.)

The tiniest flower

blossoms into life
at the needle's point
but soon declines to reveal
her hiding place
each time she flowers
it is a dark plum-red
today there's the
thready whiff of blood
to quicken the void
mingling with the smell
of grass and trees
a whole wilderness blooms
spilling the body's vast silence





Chi Lingyun's style is subtle, even delicate, but there is a real darkness underpinning her work. That can be a difficult balance to bring over into English, requiring a careful touch from the translator.
                                                                                                                                        — Eleanor Goodman