Leaves Fall On The Stone Stairs Poem by East Sea Fairy Xing Yi

By FAN ZhongyanTranslated by East Sea Fairy

Numerous higgledy-piggledy leaves twirl to the ground
on the stone stairs with a faint scent of fragrance.
The swirling sound
of the falling leaves lend to the cold of the fall at this moment of silence.
Tucked up is the brocade curtain of chained pearls of brilliance,
The terrific tower is blank and bare.
I only see the clear sky and the Milky Way end in the distance.
Every year, on this night, I see the Moon in the full glow and glare.
Thousands of miles away on this night every year is my Fair.

Badly broken is my heart heavy with woe.
Intending to drown my sorrow and grief in beer,
I find it hard for me to be blotto,
and before I mouth it, the wine just turns into many a sad drops of tear.
Late is the night. The incense burner is dimming out sheer.
Leaning against my peerless pillows in the darkening lamplight glare,
I pretend to be asleep. This unending sleep drear
makes me suffer through solitude that I desolately bear.
So endless is the sore waiting that I can't avoid it though daylong in despair.