To Be Alive - Poem by Lan Xin

 

To Be Alive

Poem by Lan Xin

Internationally renowned writer, poet and translator, member of the Chinese Writers Association. The only female inheritor of UNESCO-listed Dongba Culture, International Disseminator of Dongba Culture and practitioner of Chinese culture's global outreach. Winner of the Italian Francesco Giampietri International Literary Award, President of Lanxin Samei Academy and Dean of Yulong Wenbi Dongba Culture Academy.

To be alive
some live in confusion
some live without truth
some live in disorder

Some are trapped in fame and gain
some cling to power and position
some lose themselves in comparison
some drown in endless calculation

Some are bound by anxiety
some are lost in sorrow
some are eroded by negativity
some wander in decadence

But those who live brightly
optimistic clear‑minded open‑hearted
wise and peaceful

they have awakened in life’s trials
seen through the impermanence of life and death

They know themselves truly
understanding what to pursue
what to release
what to hold fast
what to let go

Thus
they live awake
they live noble
they live with endless light