That Day by Hei Feng, tr. Wang Ping

That Day

by Hei Feng, tr. Wang Ping

 

So much anxiety after Mother was buried

So much fear

Under the white sun

You died, Mother

My wound was buried with your body 

Your black bones have my batting sticks

That day

I carried the wind

I carried white eyes

Empty basket

That day, I was empty

That day, I was weightless

That day, I was all bones

That day, I was full of fear

My sister was still young

My other sister was married

I went out to gather vegetables for pigs

Lilies,shepherd purse, spinach

Come out, hurry

Alfalfa, plantain, ground covers

Don’t hide yourselves

I’m coming

Seek

Seek seek seek seek

I filled half of my basket 

The sun entered the earth

My little sister wanted her mother

Don’t be afraid

Big brother will take you home

Brother, your hand is cold

Brother, you’re crying

Sister, you have no idea

what kind of fear I have in my heart

That day

The world changed

The white sun pushed me down

Water carried me 

----away

That day, I was all bones

That day, I was weightless

That day, I was empty

That day, I was afraid

The world was a net full of holes

 

那天……

葬了母亲好惊慌

葬了母亲怕

白太阳

母亲你死去

体内有我的伤

你的黑骨里

有我的木棒

那天

我提着风

我提着白眼

空竹篮

那天，我空

那天，我轻

那天，我瘦

那天，我多么慌

妹妹小

姊姊出嫁了

我去找猪草

黄花菜地米菜耳朵菜

你们快出来

苜蓿草车前草被褥草

你们不要

我来找

找

找找找找找……

找了半篮草

太阳落土

妹妹找母

不怕

哥哥带你回家

哥哥你手好凉

哥哥你哭了

妹妹你哪知道

哥哥心里好慌

那天

目光异样

白太阳将我推倒

水载我

——流走

那天，我瘦

那天，我轻

那天，我空

那天，我多么慌

世界是一个透风的网

 

 

______________________________

 

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.

 

Lingering at Hainan by Hei Feng, tr. Wang Ping

Lingering at Hainan 

 by Hei Feng, tr. Wang Ping

 

Today I just want a bowl of noodles

The coconut breeze is as soft as the southern music

A piece of glass, so blue

Peace between water and salt

Pieces of paper are flying

White birds whirling, more real than paper

In a space no one can reach

Deep sleep…

But today I

Just want a bowl of noodles

I enter the island through my last grains of rice from Hubei

I can’t deny: I see the island’s sky

“Swishing—“into the landscape of post-industrial country

But today

When the black screen is shut off from the “future”

Today all day

I gaze at the coconut. My attention goes

To the smooth coconut

--sour, perhaps

But I don’t care

For a whole day today, I feel clean

At dusk I borrow a bird nest for the night

I dream birds flying around my dreams

Kakakakaka

Birds didn’t return to their nest

I dream my dreams are hatching their eggs

A bird

Flying

In the sixth dimensional space

Tonight

I can’t close my eyes

Tonight

I think about the bird

More than my wife

Tonight I go over my “lessons” word by word

Tonight, I’m hungry, but I refuse to eat the eggs

The sun shines on me lightly

Like a beach in mirage, after the tide

I learn to wade into the hard water of the self

I wake up

The moon is high

The sun is shallow

 

逗留海南

这一天，我只想吃一碗面

虽然椰风与南韵柔软

一块玻璃很蓝

水与盐平静

虽然有一些纸在飞

一些比纸更真的白鸟在摇

在触及不到的一片空间里

深睡眠……

然而，这一天我

只想吃一碗面

我用最后的几粒湖北大米进入岛屿

不能否认，我看见了岛屿的天空

“砉——”的推进的国家后工业社会的前景

而这一天

在关闭“前景”的黑屏的这一天

整整一天

我只端详椰子。我只关心近处的

一颗光滑椰子

——它也许很酸

但我不怕这种“酸”

而这一整天，我干净

傍晚我在岛语之外借鸟窝过夜

我梦见鸟嘎嘎嘎嘎嘎嘎嘎嘎嘎叫着袅绕着我的

梦境飞

鸟终夜不归

我的梦孵化鸟蛋

一只鸟

在第6维

飞

这一夜

我彻夜无眠

这一夜我思念一只鸟

胜过妻子

这一夜我反复温习“功课”

这一夜，饥饿。但我不吃鸟蛋

太阳很浅地照我

犹如蜃气中的退潮的沙滩

我学习并涉过自己坚硬的水

我醒了

月亮很高

太阳很浅

 

Hei Feng is from Hubei, Black Harvest.

 

_______________________________________________

 

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.