青出于蓝

This poem was inspired by a photo from the exhibit "A Beautiful China" held in the Old Rizal Library, which I submitted for my CHN 4 class last December 2013.

Here is the photo I chose with the caption, "Hani terraced fields of Honghe river basin, Yunnan Province." Photo by Chen Hainin/Xinhua. 

The title 青出于蓝 (qing chu yu lan) is a Chinese proverb that literally means, "green born out of blue." It is used to describe a student or a child excelling beyond the level of his/her teacher or parent, as in how green is a more brilliant color that comes from blue.

早晨

妈妈把你绑在背后

我们一起到稻田做工。

我蹲下  往下看

你举头  往上看

眼前一样的蓝色天空

你期望的美妙宽阔

我看到的只是影子。

你就尽量追

追着那光亮的太阳

永远不许像我蹲下

让梦想

青春

幸福

在背后偷偷溜走

直到生命的

黄昏。

~

In the dawn,

let mother carry you on her back,

and work the rice fields together.

 As I crouch down, staring downward,

you raise your head, looking upward,

our eyes meet the same brilliant blue sky,

that grand horizon that you hope for,

all I see is its reflection.

Then you must chase it down,

pursue that ray of light from the sun,

never let yourself bend over, as I had done,

letting dreams,

youthfulness,

happiness

slowly drift away behind me

until life has reached

its dusk.