YOU MUST NOT RUN IN PLACE

Don’t say since life is short and precarious,

you want to live effortlessly.

Don’t brag you will try to outsmart time —

every day you’ll watch movies and eat dim sum

while chatting idly with friends.

Better keep busy like the others

who work for a sack of rice or a set of clothes.

See how steady those footsteps are on the wharf,

look at the ships leaving the port —

heavy, they are still going far.