A Sleeping Tree In The Lake

For a long time
I stare at your slim and white* body
of a tree
which is sleeping deeply
on the bottom of the plateau lake.
The mysterious blue lake water 
is so ice-cold that
keeps your beauty completely;
the sunlight filtering through the water
makes you a little dreamy.

Your negligent figure 
stretches in the clear water freely.
Neither the lithe waterweeds
nor the smart small fishes
can awaken you a little.
The gravel on your side always
guards your secret in a mute way.

In the solitary mountains,
the wild flowers are luxuriant
and the woods are lush.
The twittering of birds is heard occasionally
far or near.
while the protean clouds shadow into the lake.
The starlight from millions of years ago
is twinkling.
After the autumn tints are splendid,
the pure white snow frozen over the lake
brings everything back to the silence.

Your voice seems to be heard sometimes
in the quiet nights.
Your somniloquy- like song raises
from the deep bottom of the lake,
as a slight smoke lingers
over the lake and 
echoed in 
my rippling heart. 

How many generations have you been staying 
in this chilly and lonely place peacefully?
I ask both you and myself / dumbly.
Away from millions of miles,
I stare at your lying figure 
which is on the bottom of the lake
for a long time
like staring at my own
deeply sleeping soul.

Min Katherine Liu
Virginia Tech
WVArts Solitude
Spring 2016



* Tree trunk becomes white in lake water because it has calcified for centuries.

2016年4月29日