Yidan Han is the author of two books of poetry Standing against the Wind (1993) and Selected Poems of Green Voice (2004, bilingual).  She is a coauthor of the first Dictionary of Rhetoric (2000) and other four academic books in expounding classical Chinese poetry.  She is the founding editor of Poetry Sky.  She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

绿音，原名韩怡丹。著有诗集《临风而立》（1993）、《绿音诗选》（2004，中英双语），参与编著中国第一部《辞章学辞典》（2000）以及四本中国古诗文评点译析导读书籍。Poetrysky.com创办人及《诗天空》主编。她现居美国罗得岛州普罗维登斯。

Waiting for Cardinals

等待红鸟

I see cardinals perching on branches

and looking at me through windows.

They seem very curious about my room.



They are three, like triplets 

staying in different branches,

and a yellow-bellied robin is not far from them.



When it begins to rain their chirps disappear 

and they all disappear.

In fact it is not really rain.

It is the sleet—little granules of the ice

falling all the afternoon

which resemble little uncut diamonds.

At first they melt swiftly on the roof

and cannot be seen.

When the sleet is denser and heavier,

the black roof seems covered by a sheet of

unmelting diamonds

glistening against the grey sky.



I guess cardinals are staying in their warm nests.

Only squirrels, whose fur is both

water and winter proofing, are not afraid of rain.

They are still chewing something in the rain,

staying on the roof or the top of the fence.



The burning bush in the backyard 

is still burning, and resembles a huge wind chime

surrounded by green woods and yellow leaves

spreading all over the ground.

I seem to hear its bright red foliage tingle.

Its color is like the plumage of cardinals, fresh red

which makes me miss cardinals a little bit.

I still don't know where they are.

I'm waiting for them to come back.

			

我看到红鸟们站在树枝上

透过窗口看着我

似乎他们对我的小屋感到好奇



他们总共三只, 宛如三胞胎

呆在不同的树枝上

不远处还有一只黄肚皮的知更鸟



当雨开始下时他们的啁啾消失了

他们也就此消失

其实那不是真的雨

那是冻雨——

整个下午都在下着的小冰块

像不规则的小小钻石

初时迅速地融化于屋顶之上

无影无踪

后来那些颗粒越来越密了

黑色的屋顶像是铺上了一席密密的

不融化的晶莹钻石

在灰色的天空下闪烁



我想红鸟们应是躲在他们温暖的巢里

只有松鼠不怕雨

其皮毛既防水又防寒

他们仍在雨中不停地吃东西

一会儿在屋顶上, 一会儿在篱笆上



后院的燃烧灌木

宛如一个被绿色的树林和遍地黄叶环绕的

巨大的风铃, 燃烧着

我仿佛听到它那红色的叶片叮当作响

它的鲜红与红鸟的颜色如此相似

这让我有些想念红鸟

我仍不知红鸟们在哪里

我等待着他们回来

			

Driving along the Scenic Road

驾车于风景路上

                           

The road sweeps down the forest

like a wiggling river.

The car curves on it

like a little speedboat.



Shadows decorate the road.

The odor of grass and pines flutters

in our face,

a green shower.



The end of the road cannot be seen,

though there is no evidence that we get lost.

Some fractions of the blue sky

make their way through crevices

of soaring pines

to comfort my eyes.

Two or three pieces of clouds

hide themselves between the leaves. 



A black eagle

swoops over the narrow sky

above the road

and plunges into

another side of the forest.

A deer darts across the road

and disappears in the trees.

Some plants with pink tassels

can be seen along the roadside.



I make a turn,

then we are surrounded by denser woods.

The sky is hidden from view.

As the car slows down,

I find a blue sky 

between your lips.

			

林中小径

逶迤如一条小河

车子似一叶扁舟

沿着小径蜿蜒而去



小径上树影斑驳

青草和松树的气息

扑面而来

如绿色的洗礼



我们看不见路的尽头

但并没有迹象表明我们已迷路

一些蓝天的碎片

从高耸的松树的缝隙里钻了出来

以抚慰我的眼

两三朵白云

栖息在密密的叶子后面



一只黑鹰

从树林的一侧猛然跃起

越过小径上方窄窄的天空

迅捷隐入另一侧的树林中

一只小鹿飞快地穿越小径

转瞬消失于丛林里

一些不知名的粉红色小草

点缀于路的两侧



方向盘一转

我们就被更密的树林所包围

天空完全被遮蔽了

当车速趋缓

我在你的唇间

发现了

一片蔚蓝的天空

			

Before Deadline

在期限之前

                           

The hands of the clock

point to my throat

like sharp swords. 

I sit there 

in a warm room,

between a computer and 

a high-backed chair,

cannot move.



I know I must 

consume the swords 

in front of me

before tomorrow

arrives.

And this room

will shrivel like

a neglected orange,

and will be 

hurled away.

			

今天的时钟指针

象一把利刃

指着我的喉咙

我坐在温度适宜的屋里

在一台电脑与皮椅之间

动弹不得



我知道

明天到来之前

我必须吃掉指向我的利刃

而这个房间

将象桔子一样干瘪

被我随手抛掉