Lu Yang: From 'Sackcloth Garments'

translated from Chinese by Ouyang Yu

2.

those several wine bottles
because fine snow, unconsciously
scatters over the areas I can see
the fine snow is gathering around the necks of the wine bottles
as delicate as the ancient wrinkled flowers
my courtyard is plain and casual
on a fine day the fine snow melts into water
clearly, shiningly, dripping around their necks
and seeping into the shallowly laid black bricks
the bottles, as if washed
will spend their serene and brilliant period
before the dust arrives next