Student Translation Project
HKBU 2016
The Opened Umbrellas Along the Road
— a poem dedicated to the Umbrella Movement —
by Derek Chung
The opened umbrellas along the road
waited for neither rain nor wind.
Heavy footsteps many days in a row
Only the asphalt can retreat.
The opened umbrellas along the road
bloomed two leaves beside the curb.
Ankle retreating to the tent on a cold night.
The light above the horizon still soybean yellow.
The opened umbrellas along the road
like empty buses at their last stop,
waited for something forgotten.
Darkness in the corner, not even a shout.
The opened umbrellas along the road
Not closing like any other umbrellas;
The road opened along the umbrellas
Not as easy as any other road.
18 November 2014
(translated by Pui Ming HUNG)
Derek Chung (鐘國強)
Derek Chung is a Hong Kong poet. He was once a teacher and a journalist and now a free writer. He has received Youth Literary Awards and Awards for Creative Writing in Chinese for several times. Recently, he has been elected to be the Artist of Literary Arts of Year 2015. His publications include over seven collections of poems and proses.