Chen Hsiu-chen

I looked at the purple mountain
in the distance
hearing the cacti over there
praying with humble wishes for blooming.

As a happy prisoner
I was repeatedly locked into the car
while the tireless waves
slap black and white rocks as piano keys.

Oh, my Neruda,
your hands, for writing peerless love poems
and for revolution by means of letters
trying to change the fate of the country,
change instead my destiny inadvertently.

As a knight
you embrace me.
In your embrace I feel endless sorrow.
The river will flow to its own ocean
and clouds will drift back to their own mountain depressions.

In sorrow
I feel love
Present
thus learn in love from the stars
to radiate shines.

Chen Hsiu-chen, Taiwan
English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien