8月25日

在路上
周夢蝶 ( 1920~2014 )

這條路好短，而又好長啊
我已不止一次地
走了不知多少千千萬萬年了
黑色的塵土覆埋我，
而又 粥粥鞠養著我
我用淚鑄成我的笑
又將笑灑在路旁的荊刺上

會不會奇跡地孕結出蘭瓣一兩蕊？
迢遙的地平線沉睡著
這條路是一串
永遠數不完的又甜又澀的念珠

──選自《周夢蝶 ‧ 世紀詩選》

August 25

On the Road
Zhou Mengdie (1920 - 2014)
English translation: Zhi Yue

This road is very short, but oh so very long
It is not the first time for me
To walk for who knows
    how many thousands and millions of years.
The black dust covers me,
But also allows me to grow
I use my tears to become my smile
Shed my smiles to bushes on the roadside.

Will it miraculously bear orchid flowers?
The remote horizon lies undiscovered.
This road is a strand of
    forever unending, bittersweet, prayer beads.

── from Zhou Mengdie Shiji Shixuan (Selection of a Century’s Poems by Zhou Mengdie)