Load on My Mind and Step Into Summer
Load on My Mind
I have let the load on my mind
Fly to the blue sky
Gusts of gale leisurely rolling dark clouds
Are clustering around a lonely wild goose
I have written the load on my mind
On the curtains of the night
Plain and prosaic the wind is blowing slowly
Tonight the stars are twinkling as always
I have sent the load on my mind
To the palace of the Emperor of Heaven
The unrestrained flower-like white clouds
Have unexpectedly transformed into teardrops
I have used the load on my mind
To paint and dye the cold indifferent Loess Plateau
The rosy sunrise and sunset glowing all over the world
Comfort my lonely solitary fences
I have sprinkled the load on my mind
Into the ocean
Turbulent waves tumble and toss
Buoying up a ten-thousand tonner
I have planted the load on my mind
In the vast grassland
While a gust of wind flattens the grass
I listen to the songs of a shepherd
And the crisp loud sounds of his whip
That command and herd thousands of cattle and sheep
I have lost the load on my mind
In a faraway mountain
At its foot are two rabbits
That snuggle up together leisurely and carefree
…
I have buried the load on my mind
On the banks of the Yellow River
Which birthed and raised me
My fellow countrymen
Shout my pet name again and again
心事
我将心事
飘向蓝天
一阵阵狂风 乌云漫卷
簇拥一只孤雁
我将心事
写在夜幕
平平淡淡 风儿缓缓
今晚依旧星光闪闪
我将心事
寄往玉皇大帝的宫殿
潇洒的朵朵白云
竟化作泪水点点
我将心事
涂染冷漠的黄土高原
满世界的红霞
抚慰我孤寂的栅栏
我将心事
撒向大海
汹涌的浪花翻滚
托起了万吨轮船
我将心事
种在辽阔的草原
风吹草低 听牧人的歌声和脆响的鞭儿一串
指挥放牧着牛羊儿万千
我将心事
遗落在远山
山脚下有两只兔子
相依相偎 闲适悠然
……
我将心事
埋藏在生我养我的黄河岸边
父老乡亲
把我的乳名一声声呼唤
Step Into Summer
With the sugary conserved sentiments of the entire spring
Step into the full coolness of summer
Open all the doors and windows
To let in the gentle zephyr
The leaves in the yard
Sway into surging green waves
I don’t know whether I should feel cheerful
Or sad about this
Those playing in the brook are naked kids
Those family members taking a lunchtime nap
Always in their somniloquy
Show their ardent concern and ceaseless love
The loner is me
With a series of wordless exclamations
Unable to put down the thick book tirelessly read
And with my eyes glaring with love
Quietly watching the myriad world
走进夏天
用整整一个春天甜蜜蜜的情怀
积蓄着走过夏天满盈盈的凉快
打开所有的门窗
好让轻轻的风进来
院子里的树叶
摇曳阵阵绿波澎湃
我不知该是欢愉
还是因此悲哀
小河里凫水嬉戏的是一群裸体小孩
午休的家人
总在梦呓中
仍显出殷殷的牵挂与不尽的慈爱
孤独的是我
那一番番无言的感慨
放下翻不厌倦的厚书
再用自己爱意灼灼的眼睛
静静地注视这纷繁世界
About the Author
Chen Du is a voting member of the American Translators Association and an expert member of the Translators Association of China with a master’s degree in Biophysics from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, SUNY at Buffalo and a master’s degree in Radio Physics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the United States and a few other Western countries, she has published 160+ pieces of English translations, poems, and essays in more than fifty literary journals. Yan An’s poetry book, A Naturalist’s Manor, translated by her and Xisheng Chen was published by Chax Press and shortlisted (one of four titles) for the 2022 Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, administered by the American Literary Translators Association. Yan An’s poetry collection Rock Arrangement which was co-translated by her and Xisheng Chen was a runner-up for Carnegie Mellon University Press’s 2025 Literary Translation Prize and will be published in fall 2026.
Xisheng Chen is a Chinese American linguist, lexicologist, ESL grammarian, translator, and educator with over four decades of professional translation experience. He was the top scorer in English in the National College Entrance Examination of Jiangsu Province and earned both his BA and MA from Fudan University, Shanghai. He also holds a Mandarin Healthcare Interpreter Certificate from City College of San Francisco. His professional career has included work as a translator for Shanghai Television Station’s Evening English News Program, lecturer at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, China, and adjunct professor in the Departments of English and Social Sciences at Trine University (formerly Tri-State University) in Angola, Indiana. Over the course of his career, Chen has published numerous translations across a wide range of fields in newspapers and academic journals in China and internationally. He currently works at Tesla in Fremont, California and also as a freelance translator for JTG Inc., contributing to translation projects for the United States Department of Justice.
Yunping Xue’s full-length poetry collection titled Dragon Gate was published by Northwest University Press in China in 2017. As a handicapped poet and writer, Yunping Xue has published writings of more than a million Chinese characters including four poetry/prose books, e.g., Hometown’s Wind, Childhood’s Memory, and Catching the Moon. His poems have won him a few awards in China.
