“I am longing for a kiss”
R.Emujin
Mongolian
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

I am longing for a kiss.
Oh, my lips are orphaned.
Oh, these days, so old like those in fairy tales!
My feelings are so alive and I can’t bear this loneliness.
Who has left this misery with me alone?
Why love this misery as if it were something precious?
Why accept the way the world is?
How to deal with being so obviously young and
Unleashed, like morning light and evening dusk?
Why care for rumors of not being faithful?
I am longing for a kiss.

“Invading the South to the River”
Bayan
1300’s Mongol
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

The bluish mountains looked about to break at the point of a sword.
The blue river seemed not to have enough water for our mounts.
When a hundred thousand of our warriors invaded the South,
No blood besmirched the points of our spears.

“Silence”
S.Khadaa (S.Hadaa)
1961- Mongolian
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

Khar Khorin, slowly shifting clouds.
A strand of grass held in my damp palm.
Something is waiting.
I am not the one waiting.

The early sun is watching me.
I am watching the early sun.
Something desired.
I desired nothing.

“Nomads”
S.Khadaa (S.Hadaa)
1961- Mongolian
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

On the fire-red desert,
We greet the final day of golden autumn.
The herders slowly lead the camels,
There’s a guarddog too.
Will we travel far from the path we’ve chosen?

We are joined to the broad, wide desert.
From high up, the gers are swaying upon tall humps,
And eyes shine as though upon the highlands.
And in my heart, this great green force will never be broken.
My snowwhite ger is my final resting place.

“Loneliness”
B.Batbayar
1941- Mongolian
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

Just as it always has been,
like being with one who’s deaf and dumb,
I pair up with myself.
I’m telling no-one
of the sadness at my core.

The stars are blinking at someone in the dark.
Why is the craggy moon in tears?
How come everything I see and hear
Seems so alien?
It’s like I’ve come into this world by mistake,
Like a sheep among the goats.
Oh, to hell with it!
I wonder what mother’s up to.

“I drew the sky”
Kh.Suglegmaa
1966- Mongolian
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

I drew the sky,
The sun, the clouds and then the wind.
I drew you flying over there.
I didn’t draw how you landed then.

I drew the sea,
The fish, the gulls and then the waves.
I drew you going under there.
I didn’t draw how I saved you then.

“You and I Are Sailing Towards the Sun”
M.Tsedendorj
1932-1982 Mongolian

You and I are sleeping on a cloud
You and I are sailing towards the sun
You and I pass over rivers and streams
You and I pass over gazing horses and animals
You and I pass over vast steppes and noble mountains
You and I pass over a wide road stretching into the distance
You and I pass over the singing of love songs
You and I are carried on a cloud, sailing towards the sun
You and I are sailing towards the sun
You and I are falling to Earth as rain
You and I make flowers with our juices
You and I are vaporizing, rising again into the sky
You and I are sleeping on a cloud
You and I are sailing towards the sun

“The Three Empties”
anonymous
Mongol
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

Though loud and shrill, an echo is empty.
Though darkly visible, a mirage is empty.
Though tangible, the dream is empty.

“A Deluded Ascent of Mount Chun Shan”
Kublai Khan (Khubilai Khaan)
1215-1294 Mongol
translated by Sh.Tsog and Simon Wickham-Smith

On a day blessed by good fortune,
I climbed up a blue bluff.
I stepped carefully on the ground,
So as not to destroy the landscape.
The flowers glowed red,
Like rainbows.
A beryllium light glistened like mist or smoke or blue haze.
The bamboos along the streams grew green from rain fall and spring water.
The wind blew through the mountain pines with a wonderful fluting melody.
I paid my respects
At the sacred temples,
And returned with the aid of Indra.
And controlled the dragons.