She is old
breasts sagging
like bags of flour
River runs from their hometown
people on two banks
change batch after batch
like summer fireflies
that glow and dim
But the river won’t change in its capacity
to reflect the moon
If impermanence still saddens me
I must be a fool
Translation of “Fu fu lao gu jing. ” Copyright Yang Jian. By arrangement with the author. Translation copyright 2011 by Fiona Sze-Lorrain. All rights reserved.