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12 山东行 驱车行驶在山东的土地上 意识到，这是老区，这是老区 看见了白杨树，啊，永远的白杨树 灰蒙蒙的远山，仿佛有硝烟漂浮其间 石头垒砌的院墙像堡垒一样结实 悬挂的玉米棒子何时迸裂——像手雷 将和平的种子撒向这贫瘠的山乡 在这里，战争似乎已经获得永生 就像一块土地的季节性休耕 战时的儿女不改沧桑坚毅的面容 仿佛在一部老电影里旅行，或者 正在撰写新的传奇 大娘的三个儿子都在城里上班 她和老伴坚守在走空了的村子里 去年老伴也被一辆农用汽车轧死了 对方无钱赔偿，进了班房 大娘的脸上没有悲戚，颜色 就像她卖的栗子一样深 我们冲大娘咧嘴憨笑，直到牙龈毕露 犹如这漫山遍野绽开的红石榴 13 Visiting Shandong Driving across the land of Shandong It dawns on me — this is the Old Liberated Area, the Old Liberated Area! * I see the white poplars, oh, the eternal white poplars Far away, the hazy mountains seem wreathed in gun smoke The courtyards built of stones sturdy as fortresses When will those hanging cobs of corn burst — like hand grenades Spraying seeds of peace at this barren countryside Here the war seems to have gained eternal life Like a land left seasonally fallow The children of war never shed their look of weathered perseverance We could be travelling through an old film Or composing a new legend The old lady’s three sons all work in the city She and her husband stayed to guard the emptied village Last year her husband was hit by a farm truck and killed The driver had no money to pay her and went to jail Yet her face bears no trace of sadness, is as deeply coloured As the chestnuts she sells We grin foolishly at her, showing all of our gums Red as pomegranate blossoms bursting over fields and hillsides (2009) * The Old Liberated Areas are sections of China controlled by the Communists pre-1949. ...

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