In Kelan County, the foot of the Great Wall in Song Dynasty
I. Wangjiacha, the Great Wall in Song Dynasty
What's tougher than the Great Wall? Not shining spears
but honest people.
In Kelan county buried flames from a thousand war years
are reborn as quiet pines, cypresses and cooking fire on Guancen Mountain.
The city gate tower is still there, angular bricks burnt at folk kilns
embedded with skeletons and souls, dynasties unbroken by rain,
where year after year, happy and sad, the crickets and pine wind whistle.
People work under the mountain, mind and body calm.
Their ancestors came from three rivers and four lands.
The war which took all family property
is survived by a section of the Great Wall,
the spirit of its offspring.
October now. The wild geese head south.
Their bodies, filled by north winds, look strong and vigorous.
The season inks mountains and rivers,
and silvers a poor passerby.
II. Guancen Mountain
Under the Guancen Mountain autumn is magnificent.
Spruces and red birches are its kings.
Clouds’ height, grasses’ depth, winds' heft–
Nothing can be described.
Sun's light cascades. Sunlight
rinses time and groans.
Only the sky's beams can distinguish bones from shiny spears.
Under the Guancen Mountain boundless wind and dust
polish a black iron deep in time.
A man's dumb for years.
Over these years, he walked thousands of mountains and rivers,
knocked on countless doors.
A slope of blood-like wild flowers rattles a sound
on his skeleton.
III. Heyeping, Lotus Leaf Plain
Across the mountains and rivers,
not one lotus leaf found,
only an army horse pasture springs
legendary like a lotus pond
from a hundred miles of dust.
There must have been a soldier
raised in a water town who'd brought
this reservoir of care here. He came,
but never left.
When he conscripted his body to the mountain
he customized the lotus leaf shape as tribute to his home 10,000 miles away.
Nobody really understands history.
Only time collects its secrets.
On the Guancen Mountain winds are furious.
Nameless wildflowers blossom in autumn succession.
Nobody knows why their
five colors correspond precisely
to song to sacrifice to sowing and reaping, to war, and to life and death.
在岢岚 宋长城下（三首）
I 王家岔 宋长城
比长城更坚韧的 不是金戈
是清白民风
在岢岚 千年的狼烟都归了土
化作管涔山上安静的松柏和炊火
堞楼完在 民窑烧造的城砖棱角分明
像一个又一个朝代 雨打不散
骨殖和魂魄深嵌其中
年年 有蟋蟀与松涛沿灰隙载欣载悲
山岭下劳动的人 心身平定
他们的祖辈来自三江四土
战争让家业走开
祖先只好把一段长城留下来
做子孙的灵台
现在是十月 大雁南飞
它们身体蓄满了北国的朔风 显得矫健
季节让山河如墨
也让一位清贫的过路人
一身白银
II. 管涔山
管涔山下 秋天浩大
云杉和红桦是其中的帝王
云的高 草的低 风的沉重
没有什么可以描述
天光如泻 天光
洗涤时间和嘶喊
唯有天光 能够把骨头和金戈分开
管涔山下 风尘漫漫无边
把时间深处的玄铁一再打磨
一个人 哑了多年
这些年他走过千山万水
敲过无数的门
一坡如血的野花 让他的骨骼
呀了一声
III. 荷叶坪
翻遍了这里的山水
也没发现一片荷叶
唯见传说中的军马场
宛若一方莲池
掀起百里风烟
一定有一位征人
带着水乡的叮咛
来到了这里 来了
就再也没有离开
在骨肉托与山阿时
向万里乡关打开了荷叶形的嘱托
没有人真正懂得历史
唯有时光收藏着它的秘密
管涔山上 风涛如怒
无名野花在秋天尽头次第绽开
没有谁知道它们为什么
色分五彩 正好对应了
歌乐 祭礼 稼穑 战争和生死