狮子山上的禅寺
――写给僧人建文皇帝*

一个昔日的君主
微闭着眼
盘腿坐在黑暗的深处
油灯淡黄的光影
禅寺中虚空的气息
把他的袈裟变得不再真实
他偶有睁眼的时候
那是一个年迈的僧人
正蹒跚着跨过那道
越来越高的门槛
他知道这个人是监察御史叶希贤
一位跟随他流亡多年的大臣
唉，现在他们都老了
只能生活在缥缈的回忆里
难怪就在他踏入暗影的一瞬间
君王的眼里，掠过了一丝笑意
此时他想到了权力以及至尊的地位
在死亡和时间的面前是这般脆弱
已经很长时间了，他什么都不再相信
因为他看见过青春的影子
如何在岁月的河流中消失
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* 中国历史上的一位皇帝，传说他削发为僧隐居在云南狮山。

   In a Buddhist Temple in Lion Mount
     ---Written for a Buddhist monk who was once an emperor titled Jian Wen *

An emperor in former days
sat cross-legged in darkness
with his eyes narrowed
The shadow of the dim oil lamp
and the empty and dreamy flavor
set off his Kasaya unreal
Once in a while he opened his eyes
and saw an aged monk
stepping over the high threshold
slowly and staggering
He knew it was Ye Xixian, the former minister in charge of supervision
who had followed him exiling for many years
Oh, they were both aged
and had to live in their dreamy memories
No wonder when Ye Xixian stepped into darkness
a faint smile flickered across the emperor’s lips
That moment he realized that power and the absolute position
were so weak before time and death
He didn’t believe anything any more for long
because he had seen
how the figures of youth faded in the river of the years

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* An emperor in the history of China, it is said he became a Buddhist monk and lived in seclusion in Lion Mount in Yunnan Province .