we are prepared to experience

Here is the reading I finally found for my sister's wedding. Her wedding is at the end of the month, so not too much time for me to practice. I'll give you the English translation first. To get a sense on how the poem sounds when read aloud, I'll provide pronunciation in two Chinese 'dialects': Cantonese (which I'm using at the wedding) and Mandarin (the dialect of the original poet). I'll end with the original written Chinese.

Sonnet One ~ by Feng Zhi

We are prepared to experience
Unexpected miracles.
After long years a meteor
Or a gust of wind suddenly appears.

At such moments
As in our first embrace,
All past sorrows come before us
And congeal.

We praise those tiny insects
Who, after mating
Or warding off a threat,

Conclude their wondrous lives.
Our entire life is to endure
A gust of wind, the fall of a meteor.

Sonnet One in Cantonese Yale romanization:

Daih yāt sáu

Ngóh mùhn jéun beih jyu sàm sàm deih líhng sauh
Náh sè yi séung b­āt dou dīk kèih jīk,
Joih maahn chèuhng dīk seui yuht léuih fāt yìhn yáuh
Waih sing dīk chēut yihn, kwòhng fùng ja héi:

Ngóh mùhn dīk sàng mihng joih je yāt seun gàan,
Fóng fāt joih daih yāt chi dīk yúng póuh léih
Gwo heui dīk bèi fùn fāt yìhn joih ngáahn chìhn
Yìhng git sìhng ngaht yìhn bāt duhng dīk yìhng tái.

Ngóh mùhn jaan juhng náh sè síu gwān chùhng,
Tà mùhn gìng gwo líuh yāt chi gàau gau
Waahk sih dái yuh líuh yāt chi ngàih hím,

Bihn git chūk tà mùhn méih miuh dīk yāt sang.
Ngóh mùhn jíng go dīk sàng mihng joih sìhng sauh
Kwòhng fùng ja héi, waih sing dīk sàng yihn.

Sonnet One in Mandarin pinyin:

Dì y­ī shŏu

Wŏ men zhŭi béi zhe shēn shēn de lĭng shòu
Nà xiē yi xiăng bù dào de qí jì,
Zài màn cháng de suì yuè lĭ hū rán yŏu
Huì xīng de chū xiàn, kuáng fēng zhà qĭ:

Wŏ men de shēng mìng zài zhè yī shun jiān,
Făng fú zài dì yī cì de yōng bào lĭ
Guò qu de bēi huān hū rán zài yăn qián
Níng jié chéng yì rán bù dòng de xíng tĭ.

Wŏ men zàn song nà xiē xiăo kūn chóng,
Tā men jìng guò le yī cì jiāo gòu
Hùo shì dĭ yù le yī cì wēi xiăn,

Biàn jié shù tā men mĕi miào de yī shēng.
Wŏ men zhĕng gé de shēng míng zài chéng shòu
Kuáng fēng zhà qĭ, huì xīng de shēng xiàn.

And the original, in Chinese characters:

第一首

我們準備著深深地領受
那些意想不到的奇蹟，
在漫長的歲月裏忽然有
慧星的出現，狂風乍起：

我們的生命在這一瞬間，
彷彿在第一次的擁抱裡
過去的悲歡忽然在眼前
凝結成屹然不動的形體。

我們讚頌那些小昆蟲，
它們經過了一次交媾
或是抵禦了一次危險，

便結束它們美妙的一生。
我們整個的生命在承受
狂風乍起，慧星的生現。