To the Future - Zhao Lihong / 赵丽宏

Zhao Lihong / 赵丽宏





To the Future

You are a mysterious stranger ever approaching
You are an esoteric riddle hidden in the clouds and mist
Where are you coming from? Who are you?

Don’t say that you are far away from me, in fact, you are very close
Open the door, and the first ray of light into the room is you
Open the window, and the first cool breeze on my face is you

Don’t say that you are very close to me, in fact, you are far away
You are the horizon in the edge, now appearing, now disappearing
You are always on the fence with me, neither friendly nor aloof

Right now, perhaps you are hiding in an unopened email
And flickering with unpredictable light on the computer screen
You are the phone ringing off the hook, left unanswered yet

How many fantastic and wonderful hopes you have given me
I faced the sea of flowers like a bee and imagined your sweet fragrance
And like a grain in soil and waited for your overwhelming golden harvest

You once showed me in your sleep all the splendor of the world
Played for me the music more beautiful than the symphony on earth
In the clouds within reach, the fairies danced and scattered flowers

When I wake up, the cold wind is banging on the locked windows and doors
You become a snarling, anxious intruder, coming straight at me,
With an attempt to burst through the window in the name of the sudden drop of winter

I have no intention to use fantasy to beautify your indeterminate appearance
Time and time again, you have broken people’s expectations of you
Indeed, you are fickle, you are quiet, you are feisty, you are beautiful, you are ferocious

If I should meet you in the twilight covered with dark clouds
You would pull the curtain to show a long night with stars and moon unseen
Shouting in the dark: just wait, the dawn will come when the night past

If I were a wide goose on the move all the year round
You would take turns to re-enact the intermittent spring rain and heavy winter snow
Urging me to slide between the north and the south without a pause

If I were a leaf in the bleak autumn wind
You would be the boundless earth with open arms and
A seemingly gentle silence, as if ready to accompany me to rot into mud

You said your arrival was the end of history
Such a conclusion makes me fall into a doubt difficult to alleviate
History is the existence of the past, and a shadow hard to get rid of

Who should believe that the world would have a real end of history
I’m afraid that the old days people used to hate
Will put on your coat and strut back to reality

History is the shadow of the past, and the mirror of the present
Aren’t you just a pursuer who can work unflaggingly with perseverance
To let people hear your footsteps approaching the history

I do not believe in prophecy but in sincerity and tolerance
A thousand colorful yet impractical prophecies and promises
Are no better than a plain arrival and fulfillment

Even though you never made any definite promise to me
Why did I choose to believe in you again and again
It is because this belief came from the bottom of my good heart

I heard your thunder-like reminder when I was tired
And saw your mocking and calm eyes when I was overjoyed
I believe that we will surprise each other in due course

At my four-pace study, Fall 2022

(Translated by Zhou Wenbiao)





致未来

你是一个不断临近的神秘的陌生人
你是一个隐匿在云里雾里的幽深谜语
你从哪里向我走来？你是何方神圣？

不要说你离我遥远，其实你很近
推开门，射进屋里的第一缕光芒就是你
打开窗，吹在脸上的第一丝凉风就是你

不要说你离我很近，其实你很远
你是天边起伏缥缈时隐时现的地平线
你永远和我保持着若即若离的关系

此刻，你也许躲藏于一封没有开启的邮件
正在电脑的屏幕上闪烁着诡异的光芒
你是接连响着却还未被接听的电话铃声

你给过我多少梦幻般奇丽的期盼
我曾如蜜蜂面对花海想象你芬芳醉人的甜蜜
如麦粒藏身泥土期待你铺天盖地的金黄收成

你曾在睡梦中向我炫耀天地间所有的华彩
为我演奏比人间交响曲更绮丽悦耳的音乐
仙女们撒着鲜花在伸手可及的云中翩跹飘舞

梦醒时，寒风正敲打着闭锁的门窗
你变成了咆哮焦灼的入侵者迎面扑来
正准备以冬天突降的名义破窗而入

我不想用幻想美化你无法确定的容貌
你曾经一次又一次打碎人们对你的期冀
你善变，你静默，你活泼，你美艳，你狰狞

如果在阴云密布的黄昏迎候你
你拉开夜幕，展示出不见星月的漫漫长夜
你在黑暗中呼喊：等吧，黑夜过去是黎明

如果我是一只奔命于迁徙的大雁
你会轮番转演出绵绵春雨和漫天冬雪
敦促我永无休止地在北方和南方之间飞行

如果我是一片萧瑟秋风中的落叶
你会是无边无际的大地袒露着怀抱
以貌似温厚的沉寂准备陪伴我腐朽成泥

你说，你的抵达，就是历史的终结
如此结论让我生出难以纾解的疑问
历史是过去的存在，是难以摆脱的背影

谁相信世间会有真正终结的历史
我担忧人们曾经憎恶的旧日时光
会披上你的外衣大摇大摆重返现实

历史是过去的背影，是反照现在的镜子
你不就是一个锲而不舍的追求者
让人不断听见你一步步逼近历史的足音

我不迷信预言，我相信真诚和宽容
千百次天花乱坠的预言和许诺
不如一次不动声色的抵达和实现

尽管你没有对我做任何明确的承诺
为什么我还是一次又一次对你选择相信
这份信任，源自发自内心深处的善念

我曾在慵倦疲惫时听见你惊雷般的提醒
也曾在得意忘形时看见你讥诮冷静的眼神
我相信，我们会在适当的时候惊喜邂逅

2022 年秋日于四步斋




***



Zhao Lihong is a Chinese poet, essayist and novelist. Born in Shanghai in 1952, he is currently the chairperson of the Shanghai International Poetry Festival. He has authored over a hundred books including poetry collections, essays and novels. His representative works include poetry collections such as The Boat in the Sky, Pains and Metamorphosis. His works have won awards such as the New Era Excellent Essay Collection Award, China Good Book Award and Wenjin Book Award. In 2013, he was awarded the Smederevo Golden Key International Poetry Award in Serbia. In 2014, he received the Shanghai Literature and Art Outstanding Contribution Award and was appointed as an honorary academician of the Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). In 2019, he won the Mihai Eminescu International Poetry Award in Romania and was elected as an academician of the French Academy of Sciences, Arts and Humanities. In 2024, he received the International Bing Xin Literature Award Gold Prize. In 2025, he won the Montale Literature Award in Italy and the KS International Poetry Award in South Korea. His works have been translated into English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Persian and many other languages and published overseas.


赵丽宏，中国诗人、散文家、小说家。1952年生于上海。现为上海国际诗歌节主席。著有诗集、散文集、小说等各种专著共一百余部。代表作有诗集《天上的船》《疼痛》《变形》等。作品曾获新时期优秀散文集奖、中国好书奖、文津图书奖。2013年荣获塞尔维亚斯梅德雷沃金钥匙国际诗歌奖。2014年获上海市文学艺术杰出贡献奖，同年被授予北京师范大学-香港浸会大学联合国际学院（UIC）荣誉院士。2019年获罗马尼亚“米哈伊·爱明内斯库国际诗歌大奖”，同年被选为法国科学、艺术人文学院院士。2024年获国际冰心文学奖金奖。2025年获意大利蒙塔莱文学奖、韩国KS国际诗歌奖。作品被翻译成英、法、俄、意、西班牙、保加利亚、乌克兰、塞尔维亚、罗马尼亚、波兰、匈牙利、日、韩、阿拉伯、波斯等多种文字在海外出版。