You sleeping world
A hurt beast curled up
in the night¡¯s veiled quietness

Yet I feel all the burnings
inside you
All the sufferings and sorrow
All the torments and anguishes
All the oblivions and yearnings
They escape no one

The torrent swallowed me
Oh, my dear poets!
Tonight I am sleepless
How I long to be one of you
Stay awake like a candle stick
Waiting with a pen, with patience
For the awakening of
a world paralyzed in pain

There¡¯s no end
no substitute
no exit
of what we have to face
to endure

But tomorrow
When the morning rays
break the day with freshness
I will be kinder to a rock
or a tiny wild grass
or any living soul
So I can be kinder to myself
So I can console the burning world
cuddled in my chest

2004.8.8