Laijon Liu (06/27/1975 / Dalian, China)

Among the flowery bush,
A pot of wine,
I drink alone without a friend.

I raise my cup to invite the moon,
And toast to my shadow,
For we are three friends.

But the moon does not drink wine,
And my shadow
Just follows me in vain.

Oh, my temporal friends:
The moon and my shadow,
We must make joys before the spring ends.

So I sing my songs,
The moon starts to wander;
And I dance, my shadow disorderly swings.

For we are awake,
We share our bliss,
But after drunk, we go separate way.

May we forever abide
Thru this unaffected relation,
Till the day we meet in the Milky Way.


(Haiku Drinking Alone Under Moon by Li Po
Translated by Laijon Liu 20080727)


Chinese:
月 下 独 酌
李 白

花 間 一 壺 酒
獨 酌 無 相 親

舉 杯 邀 明 月
對 影 成 三 人

月 既 不 解 飲
影 徒 隨 我 身

暫 伴 月 將 影
行 樂 須 及 春

我 歌 月 徘 徊
我 舞 影 零 亂

醒 時 同 交 歡
醉 後 各 分 散

永 結 無 情 遊
相 期 邈 雲 漢