translations by Dan Veach

Wang Wei

Playing a flute, we cross to the farther shore
Seeing you off as the sun begins to set
Out on the lake, whichever way you turn
Mountain green rolls up into pure white cloud

Pei Di

Empty and vast stretch the waters of the lake
Flaming blue the color of the sky
Tie the boat to the bank and give a whistle—
From every direction the clean winds come

Dan Veach is the founder and editor emeritus of Atlanta Review. For over two decades Atlanta Review has featured poetry from around the world, including wartime Iraq, pro-democracy Iran, and mainland Communist China. Dan’s own translations from Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and Anglo-Saxon have won the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize and the Independent Publisher Book Award. He is the editor and co-translator of Flowers of Flame: Unheard Voices of Iraq (Michigan State University Press, 2008). His poems and Chinese ink paintings are collected in Elephant Water, winner of the Georgia Author of the Year Award. Dan has performed his work worldwide, including Oxford University, People’s University in Beijing, the American University in Cairo, the Atheneum in Madrid, and the Adelaide Festival in Australia.