I have always been in love, in love with someone
I don’t know you, who you are
I don’t know your name, your face
I don’t know which city you are in
Which country, which planet, which universe
I only vaguely feel you
Always waiting for me, as if in a previous life
I was your amnesiac lover whom you always loved
You wait for me everywhere
Everything has traces of you
In order to love you, I have loved
So many short-lived and perishable things
Sometimes I suddenly stop on the road
feel a breeze brushing my ears
That’s you passing by me, with a sigh
As if you never blamed me for getting lost
Sometimes late into the night, on the radio
A long-forgotten song drifts out
With the cold rhythm of an entire iceberg
Sometimes in the clear of morning, a glimmer of light
on the other side of a thick fog seems like your vague call
Sometimes in the noisy amusement park at noon
A fiery hem of a dress brushes against my knees
A black veil flashes the serious lines at the corners of your mouth
Then swiftly disappears with the abstract waves of the carousel
Who are you, your patience sometimes drives me crazy
Your tolerance makes me ashamed. I sit on the roadside
like a sulking child in a game, I want to test whether
the adults who have walked away will look back to find me
Let me rest my tired head on your lap
But your gentle touch
Suddenly stops in mid-air, changes direction
I finally know, you’ve always been by my side
Just not letting me know, like my lover in my previous life
Patiently waiting for the loyalty of memory to return to my midnight
December 24, 2023, Christmas Eve
Translated by Mǎ Yongbo and Helen Pletts
我一直在爱着你 I Have Always Been in Love With You 马永波
我一直在爱着，爱着一个
我并不认识的你，你是谁
我不识你的名，你的面
我不知道你在哪个城市
哪个国家哪个星球哪个宇宙
我只模糊地感觉到你
一直在等我，仿佛前世
我曾是你一直爱着的失忆的恋人
你在所有的地方等我
万物都是你的痕迹
为了爱你，我曾经爱过
那么多短暂易朽的事物
有时我突然在路上停驻
感觉一阵微风擦过我的耳廓
那是你在经过，带着一声太息
仿佛你从未责备过我的迷途
有时在深夜，收音机里
飘出一段久已忘怀的歌曲
带着整座冰山寒冷的节奏
有时在清晨，浓雾那边的一束微光
像是你若有若无的召唤
有时在正午喧闹的游乐场
一幅裙裾火辣辣地擦过我的腿弯
黑色面纱飘闪出嘴角严肃的线条
又随着旋转木马抽象的波浪，迅疾消逝
你是谁，你的耐心有时让我发狂
你的宽容让我羞愧，坐在路边
像一个游戏中赌气的孩子
想试验一下走远的大人
会不会回头，来把自己寻见
让我把疲倦的头伏在你的膝上
可是啊，你温柔的抚摸
却在半空突然停住，换了方向
我终于知道，你一直在我身边
只是不让我知晓，像我前世的恋人
耐心地等待记忆的忠诚回到我的午夜
New bio’s
Mǎ Yongbo ⻢永波
Mǎ Yongbo ⻢永波 was born in 1964. Since the age of 27 he has published 7 poetry collections: Red Bird (Hong Kong Wen Guang Publishing House, 1991), Summer Played at Two Speeds (Tangshan Publishing House, Taiwan, 1999), Journey in Words (Huacheng Publishing House, 2015),Geography of the Self (Zhejiang Gongshang University Press, 2018),Untied Boat (China International Broadcasting Press, 2024),A Grateful Ode to Eternity (Long poetry collection, Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House, 2024). He is a Chinese scholar focused on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose including the work of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams and Ashbery. He recently published a complete translation of Moby Dick, which has sold over half a million copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
The Collected Poems of Mǎ Yongbo (four volumes, Eastern Publishing Centre, 2024) comprising 1600 poems, celebrate 40 years of writing poetry.
⻢永波出⽣于1964年。⾃27岁起，他已出版了7本诗集：《红⻦》（⾹港⽂光出版社，1991 年、《以两种速度播放的夏天》（台湾唐⼭出版社，1999年）、《词语中的旅⾏》（花 城出版社，2015年、《⾃我的地理学》（浙江⼯商⼤学出版社，2018年）、《不系之⾈》（中国国际⼴播出版社，2024年）、《致永恒的答谢词》（⻓诗集，四川⽂艺出版社，2024年）。他是⼀位专注于翻译和教授英美诗歌和散⽂的中国学者，包括狄⾦森、惠特 曼、史蒂⽂斯、庞德、威廉斯和阿什⻉利的作品。他最近出版了《⽩鲸》的全译本，销量已 超过50万册。他在南京理⼯⼤学任教。《⻢永波诗歌总集》（四卷本，东⽅出版中⼼， 2024年）共收录1600⾸诗，庆祝他诗学探索40周年。
Helen Pletts
Helen Pletts: (www.helenpletts.com) Currently lives in UK. Shortlisted for Bridport Poetry Prize 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, twice longlisted for The Rialto Nature & Place 2018 and 2022, longlisted for the Ginkgo Prize 2019, longlisted for The National Poetry Competition 2022. 2nd prize Plaza Prose Poetry 2022-23. Shortlisted Plaza Prose Poetry 23-24. Working closely with Mǎ Yongbo since Feb 2024. Also published by Ink Sweat and Tears, International Times, Open Shutter Press.
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