The Year 2008 "Field of Experiments" – A Poem by Gade Tsering

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem by young Tibetan poet from Amdo, Gade Tsering, that was originally posted on his blog in two parts on June 28 and June 30, 2010. The posts were removed on July 15, 2010.

Gade Tsering

Now that the turbulent month of March is coming to a close, it seemed like an appropriate time to post this translation. Readers may remember two poems by Gade Tsering that we translated last summer, “My Tibetanness” and “I Am Tibetan”, follow this link to read the poems and a short introduction to Gade Tsering: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/07/i-am-tibetan-and-my-tibetanness-two.html
Although Gade Tsering’s blog appears to be unavailable at the time of writing, Gade Tsering is very active on his Sina Microblog: http://t.sina.com.cn/tibetpoem

“Field of Experiments”
—I was born in sadness, but you make me strong!
1,
A stage broad enough
To warm the heart, when the twilight of dusk is grey
And dim.
Wingless birds fly at a high place of nothingness
But they are all men suffering from acrophobia;
Not for geographical reasons but
Because your vision escaped the danger of your prejudice
Before you wanted to come to this land
Therefore, you remember that one year
The whole of Lhasa was enveloped in a black coat of fog and smoke.
Certainly traceless is the sky at this moment, but my heart is
Weak and grief-stricken
And then, all of a sudden you say,
“This is religion!”
2,
Tibet is teetering
In the spring sun of March.
In the midst of the remaining ruins,
I am solely playing a nocturne.
3,
The word is, however,
That the light is bright and beautiful
But the small town against the light is quiet
When people in the streets become so weak
I turn to solely sing in a different direction
And this is it.
When you get up to leave
This maroon coloured land, When your eyes moisten and
Your heart softens
You must acknowledge
the hidden space or the secret of being without a lock to this room
Or at least,
The guilt and depression you feel when
The mistakes are so obvious
4,
“Buddha’s flowers
Have not blossomed for a long time
In a prayer hall gradually becoming desolate
My faith
is without meaning”
Said my friend with a smile on the face
His so saying
made me feel shocked
A time like this
When will it come to an end?