"Ode to the Red Flag"
Wandering in the southern wind is my yearning.
The north where I was raised has become a place of longing.
I miss the lychees of the south and the sorghum of the north.
I miss the desolation of the north with the warmth of the south.
After learning how southerners speak and sing like birds,
I want to hear the roughness of the riding whips of my fellow villagers.
Walking around in a city with no seasons and no cold,
I even want to go back to my hometown when it snows.
After reading about the south of the Yangtze River, where orioles fly and grass grows, then read about the scenery in the north.
My hometown that lacks color makes me happy and sad.
Although the north has the Tukang of my childhood,
The south is the battlefield of my lifelong struggle.
My youth has turned into the mountains and rivers of the south,
My love has grown in the south.
My home is in the south, but my parents live in the north.
I have traveled thousands of miles back to the north,
but I can never go back to the night I set out.
I am like a migratory bird, inhabiting both the south and the north.
My heart is like a kite, carrying longings and dreams
Maybe my descendants will go back to the north just like I did to the south.
My soul can only come and go between the north and the south.
My familiar but unfamiliar south, my kind and distant north