Moon
Written by Chen Si’an
Translated from the Chinese by Jami Proctor Xu
Narrated by Jami Proctor Xu
China
After thirty-one years you still find it unbelievable
the moon will only be full that day
The fourteen billion-year-old universe has limitless stars spinning
but is limited to only one romantic day
Or is it the exact opposite
On the moon where Chang’E and Chang’E 1 coexist,
the unmoving vacuum stirs your childhood imagination
The year you learned to recite that the moon waxes and wanes,
in geography class they were explaining why one side of the moon is always dark
Did Armstrong burst into
the Moon Palace Su Shi was gazing at
Later you knew in the country where you grew up,
throughout history people have obsessed over love that needs to be tested
And thus there is only one elixir for immortality
and the magpie bridge only built to meet for one day
And thus you begin to understand
why the moon can only be full on one day
And thus you begin to be willing
to accept all things you can only test once
The melody rises up, babbling in the wilderness
The moon is the brightness of home
Home is only in your lover’s heart