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A Sword of Fire Traverses Persian Gulf Skies
By William He

Hear the oil tanker sigh,
While crossing valleys carved in water,
Threading gaps between the deep-set stars.
The fog has sealed the Strait of Hormuz completely,
Palm trees are steeped in ink-black hues,
The desert stiffens in its solemn trance.
See how the war-clouds stretch a thousand miles,
Where troops are fading in the glow of cave-fire breath,
Nightfall wears a burnished bronze and gold.
Neon cracks where ghostly phosphorus gleams.
Those bitter waves that cling so tight to heaven,
With tumbling billows rolling endlessly in black.
A single glance behind: blood spatters on pale sand,
Just at that moment, wind reeks of carrion crows,
And missiles fly so close they graze the wing.

The deepest abyss beside the ship's rail.
A lantern rises, drifting through the watery realms.
Casting its trembling, iridescent light,
Oil valves ring with sharp metallic sounds.
The steel bow clashes with the iron flame in shock.
And where some ancient god still whispers low,
The viscous fluids slowly start to seep.
A sword of fire now traverses the sky,
These are the footprints of the Fire God.
The new moon offers up a final prayer,
Then shatters on the cindered plains, its gall laid bare,
While plucked strings choke and fall to silence.
Persia retreats into its secret place,
There gnawing at the marrow of its soul.
And in the midnight hour,
While licking clean the honey of the entire world,
The swarm of bees grows ever more frantic.

六丑 昨夜的波斯湾
作者：何威廉

听油轮太息，
故垒暮、
深空星隙。
雾封海峡，
棕榈皆暗碧，
大漠凝瑟。
见战云千里，
兵销窟火，
夜幕金铜色。
霓虹裂处青磷逼。
苦浪黏天，
涛翻卷黑。
回眸血红沙白。
恰风腥老鸹，
飞弹抟翼。

舷边如漆。
忽灯浮水国。
幻射光棱柱，
船面击。
钢弓铁焰交激。
有神低语处，
渗流膏液。
横天剑、
祝融行迹。
新月祷、
碎作焦原沥胆，
拨弦音窒。
波斯匿、
自啮其魄。
夜半时、
舐尽人间蜜，
蜂群懆急。