Fragments Of Love Letters From The Sixties (Yi Sha) Poem by Denis Mair

by Yi Sha
(translated by Denis Mair)

1. My dear lady comrade
we are like war buddies
in the same trench.

2. While our Motherland, to the song of thrush and swoop of swallow
From high to low enjoys the acme of stability
You are a lovely piece of territory
That too many competing heroes bow down before.

3. Harboring the humblest class affections
Within my red shining heart
I wish we could have an exchange of ideas...

4. I swear before Chairman Mao
My love for you will outlast oceans and stones
I even love you more than I love Chairman Mao.

5. The East wind blows your little pigtails
The flush of red on your face
Is brighter than the red flag.

6. Tidewaters surge within my heart
Raising whitecaps of petit bourgeois emotion
Which I can no longer contain.

7. My dear lady Comrade
I would like to commit an error, but just once.

8. Extending to you the loftiest
of Great-Proletarian-Cultural-Revolution salutations, I am...