诗画 |《在唐朝》麦冬 / 开普饭

油画《视觉唐朝》应小杰作品

在唐朝

如果在唐朝

我这样子叫你

用唐诗抒怀

一次又一次坐上灞桥

看看灞柳

一封又一封写信

展开后合上

交给船工逆流送你

那些雪会不会在冬天卷起

长安会不会一夜纸贵

落叶随风能否穿过曲江

在唐朝

我也许会与你策马

与你平平仄仄

多少篇诗歌才会撞翻一片片花红

或者一坛子老酒

或者往事中最疼的部位

我该如何恭身示好

如何举手投足

轻抚一蓬芦苇

在唐朝

我们约定日期

赴终南草堂

时间呵

一次又一次漫过

把经书捧着

捧到大雨滂沱

不知君的期许

可否如期见上一次

2017年12月28日

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In Tang Dynasty Times

By: Maidong (麦冬）*

Had I lived in the Tang Dynasty

I would have addressed you in a certain manner

Using Tang poetry to express my feelings

Time and again I would have sat on the Ba bridge

Contemplating the willows along the Ba River

Writing letter after letter

Filling pages with words after which I would have sealed them

Giving them to the boatman to bring to you against the prevailing flow

Will there be snow storms raised in winter?

Will paper be dear in Chang'an this night?*

Might the wind-borne dead leaves pass through Qujiang?

In Tang Dynasty times

I might have gone riding with you

Or have written poetry with you

How many poems would I have had to write to receive appreciation

Or a jar of wine

Or in the most painful times

How should I have conducted myself

How should I have comported myself

When caressing a reed

In Tang Dynasty times

We would have made arrangements

To go to the thatched hut in Zhongnan

Oh time...

Time and time again

Clasping a book

In the torrential rain

I do not know what it is you hope for

Or whether this might be the last time we meet

28 December, 2017

* An oblique eference to the Jin Dynasty story of 左思，in The Three Capitals Rhapsody in which it was stated “洛阳纸贵” (Paper is dear in Luoyang) meaning that something was widely copied causing a paper shortage. In other words, a work was widely distributed.

* Maidong is the dwarf lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus) which is used in Chinese medicine

Translator: Romaine