Remembrance Poem by Bai Hua

These innocent messengers
wearing plain summer clothes
sitting here, by my side
smiling at me
revealing subtly their old, shy breasts

That once ardent voyage
that ignorant fatigue
all stop in this foreign moment,
a kindly and teary moment

Age, so much obeisance
local Mandarin…..(is it necessary?)
gentle, lustful dentures
a gust of fire

I concentrate my energies and can see
the afternoon breeze
blowing across gazes that meet
Such melancholy
such frank benevolence
and romantic gaieties of old times

Ah, these innocent messengers
ceaselessly on the move
coyly knocking on the door
harboring love and admiration
arriving in my life of so few experiences

Translated from the Chinese by Fiona Sze-Lorrain