Reflection on the Eve of Lunar New Year
Bian Zhilin

By the lamp is a window pane,
A looking glass.
Don’t draw back the curtain.
You can’t see anything far
Nothing but your own image.
But a distant window
Is a deeper mirror.
Who is looking out
Under a solitary lamp
With sad eyes in pain?

“I can’t accompany you
To hear my snore.”
This is a sharp sword,
But it can’t cleave
Water-eddies in the whirl of dream.
As one in your dream,
So you’re in his.
Only those awake
Lay down their knives
And bless you.