THE
LUNAR SEVENTH MONTH
The
Lunar Seventh Month is already back!
The
two lovers may meet for only one night!
The
Milky Way’s Bridge suddenly sinks away
Leaving
behind rain and tears in a pitiful plight?
In
the Seventh Month with pleasing prayers
Where
have gone the deceased dear?
Are
they still in the earth’s womb, the Hades,
Or
freed as the fall leaves into the atmosphere?
In
the Seventh Month, how piteous the leaves
Which
were so green as not thought to change
But
then turn purple by a few rain drops
And
the purple fades as the elements disarrange.
In
the Seventh Month I go out to seek a bit
Of
rose sunlight as to follow the birds’ flight;
There
over the mountaintop a curtain of mist:
I
am afraid to be obliterated in the cloudy sight!
In
the Seventh Month, oh honey! a whisper...
But
any word only means just my heart to wring.
Why
could that not be so smooth as a breeze
Very
soft, very sweet as the coming of spring?
Translation by THANH-THANH