A Blossoming Tree

How can we chance upon each other

At my most beautiful moment?

For this scene,I've begged Buddha,

500 years nonstopping,

For the fate we can be interweaving.


Buddha hence changes me into a tree,

Standing by a road you'll be passing,

Blossoming, discreetly, under the sun:

Every flower is my previous life's yearning.


When you trek near, listen carefully:

The trembling leaves are my longing passion.

But you pass, you pass carelessly,

Leave, behind you, the tree that's shedding.


Dear, the sheddings are not petals at all,

But my heart, my withered heart, crying!

(by Xi Murong)

Across the darkness of the river is a poetry book I just ordered from Amazon.cn. It's the collections of all of the poems created by Ms Xi, a painter and artist from Taiwan. Born in 1943, with a Mongolian origin, she, in 1981, made a sensation by publishing her first love poems among the young readers, Seven-li scent, Qi-li xiang. Other of her collections include Blameless youth,Wuyuan de qingchun and A booklet of poems gone astray,Mitu shice. Across the Darkness of the River (Chang Shu-li) is also available in English. Copenhagen/Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2001.