tr. from Chinese by HT & KK adapted by Charles Bernstein published in Sybil-- the English language portal of Sibila more on Yao Feng
1 at the plenary meeting three thousand right hands are raised at the same level like a lawn trimmed by a mower
a spring swallow opens its scissors flies above, past my arm I give out a sad, shrill cry
2 her heart broken by men but not Jesus she loves nobody else keeps writing him letters
in this world he’s the only man for her up on the cross always true love
3 master narrowed his eyes suspended his abdominal breathing came to the wok, boiling with oil
he raised his hand to the sky as if he had grabbed a cloud and said sky’s already fried
4 the world is getting warmer glaciers will be melting soon we who love animals should prepare fridges for every penguin
5 tears fall pounding ground forming deep pool
frog at bottom sings song of sky
8 it’s always been like that rivers and mountains stay put even when a county is defeated
it’s always been like that moving forward and forward defying enemy cannons on our own land
numerous enemies who once were brothers
9 for their dinner I was trifling with bok choy and potatoes cutting up dead animals as someone’s chef
for my dinner I either have no appetite no idea what to eat
11 Western luxury-brand sellers kept complaining about the unreliability of their Chinese customers “All of a sudden they vanish: gone abroad or to jail.”
12 the Siberian tiger was paces in his cage relentlessly enough paces to take him back to the Greater Hinggan Mountains
like long-distance running in high school every day round the track three thousand meters so after a few months the distance equaled the Long March to Yan’an
20 every time I open the window I feel like I am opening myself
sky, mountains, and valley knock me out
I close the window open the door and walk away
21 if I’m sky I’d be vast
if I’m sea I’d be deep
if I’m land I’d be fecund
if I’m bald I’d wear no wig
22 the sun set bang! an official clap closed the blue sky
finally approved I looked out the window it was like a dark night gazing at another dark night
27 on the mountainside stripped bare I planted a tree beside an acre of carrots and waited for a rabbit in the shade
not for a person a rabbit
34 hugging his pillow Freud turned off the light and went to sleep
tossing about he’d already booked the reservations for his travels
41 in Tibet in a village with stunning mountains and overflowing streams every comer was sublime but there were flies big flies which I suppose were harmless
even so when I held the butter tea made by Zhou Ma I waved my hands wildly to shoo the flies
42 we’ve gone to Lhasa Shigatse Gyantse Naqu Linzhi put on Tibetan gowns taken pictures with snow mountains and yaks: as visitors we saw Tibet as heaven then went back to the stock market BMWs steaming latte beds with no fleas
43 in a county town I saw a man climb to the end of a bridge, cry out, jump
then there was a crowd of pointing fingers and chattering voice but no sign of the man
the whirlpool was like a life preserver
44 at the Red Market under scarlet lights a fat hawker grabs a frog skins it while chatting with a customer so deft as if he were taking off his gloves
55 autumn’s called off the cicadas days getting colder
in this crazed casino town even leaves yellowed by autumn wind look like gambling chips
gold’s planted in everywhere to grow coins, necklaces, teeth