Box by Li Yun, tr. Wang Ping

 Box 

 by Li Yun, tr. Wang Ping

 

Child, please don’t open the box, no need to see everything in it

Not everything in this world needs to be understood

The box brings you good news, also death

I was too ignorant to follow the rule

I opened my mouth—I spoke

It was a grim day when I opened the box

Please remember the lesson

In reality, the box was empty. In fact,

The box was full…

Thunder descended, treasures opened, secrets revealed

Sunlight broke the window, ten thousand arrows through my heart

Plagues came in waves, conspiracy exposed, blood rained down

Mars invasion? A comet through the sky, a cry of a newborn

I was a box, I broke my own rule

I opened the box, I opened myself

To fly or stay put

But Child, the only thing I never regretted—

Is to open my mouth and speak

 

盒子

孩子，请不要打开盒子，无须看到全部

这世上所有事物真相你不该都弄清楚

盛在里面的东西不都是吉讯还有噩耗

在我最懵懂时，没恪守戒律

开口——说话

盒子被打开之际是阴霾沉寂的日子

请铭记这个教训

其实，盒子里是空的。其实，

盒子里是满的……

雷霆来了，藏宝图展开，秘密被泄密

阳光也会来，推启窗棂，万箭穿心

瘟疫接踵而至，密谋被暴露，腥风血雨

火星人来了吗？一颗流星悄然划过，婴儿一声　啼哭

我是一只盒子，我是自己的破戒者

打开盒子，打开自己

放飞或存储什么

孩子，我唯一的不悔是——开口说话

 

Li Yun serves as editor-in-chief of China's most influential monthly poetry journal 诗歌月刊，He is  a great poet and novelist himself. 

 

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Wang Ping is a Chinese-American poet with over a dozen books to her name who lives in St. Paul, MN. See her webpage, WangPing.com.

 

See my reviews of her latest two poetry books at this post.