The dark night is deaf to the feet stepping along the path.
What am I that rides the enchanted shadows, kicking at the black rocks? Maybe it is the world which sways and reels?
Upon it, my feet limp along.
As I crawl into the storm with a pair of red lights,
the sun comes immediately to me!
Oh, what a lovely morning…!
~ Tseveendorjin Oidov, trans. from Mongolian by Simon Wickham-Smith
Tseveendorjin Oidov is considered the first Mongolian Modernist. He is highly regarded as a visual artist. He lives in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Simon Wickham-Smith is international director of the Mongolian Academy of Poetry and Culture and co-directs the Orchuulga Foundation, which is dedicated to the translation of Mongolian literature. A 2008 and 2015 grant recipient of the PEN Translation Fund for his translations from the Mongolian, he was also recognized as a Leading Cultural Worker by the government of Mongolia for this translation work. He lives in Rutgers, NJ.