IN SASKATCHEWAN

Facing a thousand acres for sale,

your cheeks turn pink, your eyes flashing.

True, if you pay a hundred thousand dollars,

this farm will be yours,

together with the pasture and the farmhouse.

I know you are a farmer’s granddaughter.

Your family’s land was confiscated

by the state during the land reform,

but in your veins still flows

the hunger for sowing and harvesting.

How you long to live like your friend,

the one from Henan province —

she put down roots here, raised

a family, followed daylight

to go to work and returned to rest,

busy or relaxing according to the season.

Your friend’s farm extends to the end of the sky,

already over ten thousand acres.

She has her own forest and lake.

Heavens — this makes me envious, too!

But don’t forget you are destined to wander.

Your home is on the road, and on paper.

You used to say that most property

was merely extra fat.