Ramallah
by Bei Dao
Translated by Eliot Weinberger and Iona Man-Cheong
in Ramallah
the ancients play chess in the starry sky
the endgame flickers
a bird locked in a clock
jumps out to tell the time
in Ramallah
the sun climbs over the wall like an old man
and goes through the market
throwing mirror light on
a rusted copper plate
in Ramallah
gods drink water from earthen jars
a bow asks a string for directions
a boy sets out to inherit the ocean
from the edge of the sky
in Ramallah
seeds sown along the high noon
death blossoms outside my window
resisting, the tree takes on a hurricane's
violent original shape
附中文原诗：
拉姆安拉
北岛
在拉姆安拉
古人在星空对奕
残局忽明忽暗
那被钟关住的鸟
跳出来报时
在拉姆安拉
太阳象老头翻墙
穿过露天市场
在生锈的铜盘上
照亮了自己
在拉姆安拉
诸神从瓦罐饮水
弓向独弦问路
一个少年到天边
去继承大海
在拉姆安拉
死亡沿正午播种
在我窗前开花
抗拒之树呈飓风
那狂暴原形
