A Small Orange Lamp
By: Maidong (麦冬)*
Translated by Romaine
When I think of a small orange lamp
I think of my father
I think of the wind that I love
Of chrysanthemums and meandering paths disappearing into the distance
I think of a happy world
There is no need for adjectives
I eagerly await dusk
So that I might use the orange lamp that once lit my way through the dark woods
Through long alleyways
Until I came to a meadow
Where I laid my eyes upon the gentle moon
When I think of an orange lamp
I think of the flowing lyrics of "Silent Night Thoughts”*
Oh, how bitterly cold is the earth
When frost descends.