海
drawn by the ocean’s pendulum
one sea pulls two tides
ginseng from a foreign shore
so two oceans salt the skin
海漂
anchored by the absence
life woven with exotic light
a longitude of belonging
stretched over a starless map
海归
returning on an uncommon tide
new dialects translate as silence
roots return to familiar soil
a suitcase filled with the horizon
同河异流
we are the ocean’s answer to the shore
the dream of return, an anchor
the memory of departure, a ghost
two streams from the same river
Based on some research after reading this article by Jasmine Sun, and learning the Chinese word 海归 (sea turtle) and then its counterpart 海漂 (drifting at sea). In some ways, I am still the drifting sea turtle.
I also translated it into Chinese (below) and then back to English to see if there was any improvement with certain words. It seems to be a reasonable translation, though I have no idea how poetic it might be in Chinese.
海
被海洋的钟摆牵引
一海牵引两股潮汐
来自异乡的人参
两片海洋浸润肌肤
海漂
被缺席所锚定
生命与异域之光交织
归属的经度
延伸至无星的地图
海归
乘着不寻常的潮水归来
新的方言被解读为沉默
根回归熟悉的土壤
一个装满地平线的行李箱
同河异流
我们是海洋对海岸的回应
回归的梦想，一个锚
离别的记忆，一个幽灵
同一条河流的两条溪流
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
1994ever 
I really love this poem. Sea turtles are marvelous creatures; so ponderous on land yet so agile in the ocean.
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This is beautiful and I’m in awe that you can write in Chinese.
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