Poetry Garden

This poem is an English translation selected from the third section, "Poetry Garden" (诗苑), of the Chinese poetry journal Workers' Poetry Selection (《打工诗选刊》).

Nostalgia for Home

I stretch my gaze farther—
Baoding Mountain watches with tearful eyes,
seeing me off mile after mile.
Wind stirs the rice fields into waves,
the moon swells full, then wanes.
Before the river tunes its harmony,
it lies like a single string across the land,
etched with the marks of time.

I pack the chorus of frogs into my bag,
their rustic cadence,
a thick local dialect,
travels along the Quxi River
all the way into my dreams.

Tao Xiaoqing, Member of the Hunan Poetry Association

《乡恋》

把目光拉得更长些，宝鼎山含泪

送我一程又一程

风吹稻浪，月亮丰腴了又瘦

河流还未奏响和声前

只是横在眼前的一根弦

带着时间的刻度

把蛙鸣塞进行囊

浓厚的乡音

沿着曲溪河，抵达我的梦境

陶小青，湖南省诗歌学会会员。