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rain talking to night in darkness
雨在黑暗中与夜晚交谈

conversation stretches in soft tongues,
she is singing in silver, midnight hears her,
the rain exchanges. Midnight is a listener,
his dark mouth open wide, catching her
chattering sounds scattered in the water

雨在黑暗中与夜晚交谈
rain talking to night in darkness

对话在柔软的舌头上延伸，
她以银色的声音歌唱；午夜倾听她，
雨交换着话题。午夜是一个倾听者，
他张大漆黑的嘴，接住她
散落在水中的喋喋之声。

Poetry by Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Translation by Ma Yongbo 马永波

~~

The rain still falls, the rain converses with the dark
雨还在下，雨在和黑暗对话

The rain still falls, the rain converses with the dark
I eavesdrop on their murmurs
the less I understand, the more I listen
at times they blur, as if speaking from afar
then suddenly raise their voices
as though to mock me on purpose
they speak in a forgotten tongue
their secrets hold no bond with mine
so I abandon efforts to decode their whispers
I know the Yangtze grows darker, vaster now
sand gleams on crimson barges
Lingzhou and Huanzhou in Xuanwu Lake dissolve
while rain descends on every Purple Mountain path
each trail cradles a shadow-self of mine
a figure stubbornly dissolving into rain

雨还在下，雨在和黑暗对话
The rain still falls, the rain converses with the dark

雨还在下，雨在和黑暗对话
我偷听它们在说些什么
越听不懂越是想听
它们时而模糊，似乎说着话走远了
时而又突然提高声音
似乎是故意在嘲笑我
它们用的是失传的语言
它们和我其实没有什么关系
于是我放弃了参与它们秘密的努力
我知道，长江上更加黑暗苍茫了
那些红色驳船上的沙子闪闪发亮
玄武湖中的菱洲环洲都在陆续消失
只有雨落在紫金山所有的小路上
每一条上都走着一个黑黑的我
一个固执地想消失在雨中的人

Written and translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波

first published and republished in International Times

~~

i am morning, you are night—for Ma Yongbo
我是早晨，你是夜晚 海伦·普莱茨 ——赠马永波

i am morning, you are night
the twilight and early dawn,
drawn between us, the softer edges
of never starting, nor ending;
the extended conversation
shuts before it opens.
Land is impossible
there is nowhere to rest our feet,
as we disappear,
the other approaches
as we are not, the other is.
The edge of the world
is the glass mirror view of a window,
seen from either side.
And the leaning point is where
the glass must shatter us,
and all we are

我是黎明，你是夜晚 海伦·普莱茨 ——赠马永波
i am morning, you are night—for Ma Yongbo

我是黎明，你是夜晚
薄暮和拂晓，
在我们中间画出，更为柔和的边界
永无开始，也无尽头；
绵长的对话
未及开启，已然闭合。
着陆是不可能的
我们没有地方停歇，
当我们消失，
对方就会靠近
当我们缺席，对方就会存在。
世界的边缘
是窗玻璃的镜像，
无论从哪一侧观看。
而倾靠的临界点
玻璃必定将我们打碎，
连同所有的一切

Poetry by Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Translation by Ma Yongbo 马永波

~~

I am morning, you are night by Ma Yongbo—to Helen Pletts
我是黎明，你是夜晚 马永波——赠海伦·普莱茨

I am morning, you are night,
a time difference of eight hours,
is an invisible river between us;
We stand on either shore, keeping watch,
like two knights taking turns on guard,
protecting the peace of the castle, the homeland of poetry.
You scatter seeds that no-one has ever seen.
In the folds of the dark night;
I encounter the stormy waters of the past
in the moment before waking from dreams;
our worlds alternate between light and shadow,
Yet we flow on the same river.
Each wave of the tide is a greeting,
each dawn and dusk shares a light,
you are night, I am morning,
East and West, on each other’s faces,
recognising ancient signals and a shared horizon.

我是黎明，你是夜晚 马永波——赠海伦·普莱茨
I am morning, you are night by Ma Yongbo—to Helen Pletts

我是黎明，你是夜晚，
八小时的时差
是一条无形的河；
我们在两岸，彼此守望，
像两个轮流站岗的骑士，
守护着城堡的和平，诗的故乡。
你在黑夜的皱褶里，
撒下从未有人见过的种子；
我在醒前刹那的梦中，
遭遇曾经沧海的往昔；
我们各自的世界，明暗交替，
却在同一条河上流淌。
每一阵潮涌，都是彼此的问候，
每一个晨昏，都有交汇的光芒，
你是夜晚，我是黎明，
东方和西方，在彼此的脸上
辨认出古老的信号，和共同的远方。
2025年2月15日

Poetry by Ma Yongbo 马永波
Translation by Ma Yongbo 马永波 and Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨

First published by International Times