Reconciled
   I feel close to the source
   I am rocked in the long ark of
   poetry. In another reality my hand
   writes lines with the odor of plants
   My body, in its difficult
   times, enjoys them—keeping life
   aware and
   closer to the source. Pleasure without
   self-consciousness. Life is a trembling
   liquid, sending out strains of
   unprompted praise
   The ark of poetry
   glides away and along
   on this clear rippling
   water
   people love and feel loved, feel
   happiness calm and pure
   
   
   Love in difficulty is my
   poem. One stanza is complete. In another
   reality, a new stanza is being
   born, but isn't yet there
   I grope for lost arrivals
   Life, through me, falls
   weeping. Can't you feel the difficulty
   of connecting the first line
   with a whole life? The hardship of
   this life makes life, in another
   reality, glide
   Much love turns us, vertiginous, takes
   away suffering. The ark of poetry, at last
   watertight, rises in the latest
   days of this life. Water to
   water. Water lifts water
   in the clear calm of poetry
   In my love's fullness I
   bless those who still
   have many lives to live
   
   
   
   
   
   
   XUE DI
   trans by Wang Ping and Keith Waldrop