Han Zongbao
TRIAL
judge kids by old people judge whites by blacks
judge black by white judge dusk by dawn
judge swallows by crows judge freedom by a bird in a cage
judge elephants by mice judge butterflies by the eye of a storm
judge ants on a tree by fish in a bowl
judge times by their fools judge jobless graduates by golden iphones
judge square by round judge sea by sky
judge cotton by iron judge sheep and grassroots by tanks
the silent lambs, how meek they are!
judge art and writing by dynamite judge people by country
judge earth by snow judge jews by hitler
judge christ on the cross by judas and the last supper
judge shoes by feet judge cities by villages
judge floods by tall dams judge water by wells
judge football by whistle judge hawkers by city security
judge temporary workers by public servants judge migrant laborers by residence permits
judge B by A judge Second by First judge crying by smiling
stars and the gunpowder in bullets have never been exposed to moisture
if the chessboard says you’re guilty then you are guilty
those people who died from secret questioning those who died
when detained or arrested they must have seen
the sullied red flag and the hands when an experienced questioner
becomes a murderer her shining and glorious life
produced how many deaths how many wrongs written in blood
what kind of terror and torture
most one go through before he prefers death to life
relentless questioning what does it mean to him or her
everyone noticed his neck must have been stuck
but on tv they aired his confession
he put on his own trial of his text and the camera
we don’t need courts we don’t need laws our nation doesn’t need them
’cause the trial is completed in this giant one-way judgment
everyone can be a criminal just have to grab them
and put them inside if they are tough bones their flesh can be done with
one after another gets thrown in jail who will be the next one
what is it that’s breaking up happy days and pleasant scenes
laws appear on worthless paper in restricted public trials
just like catwalks once the process is in motion
once you get inside your only trick is to confess
so confess the grief of an innocent man small traces of blood
and disgrace tears are so helpless just what you asked for
an innocent man in the end hangs his head in confession amen
2013-10-29
Tr. MW (10/31/13)
《审判》
韩宗宝
用老人审判孩子 用白人审判黑人
用黑审判白 用早晨审判傍晚
用乌鸦审判燕子 用笼中的鸟审判自由
用老鼠审判一头大象 用风暴眼审判蝴蝶
用缸中的金鱼审判上树的蚂蚁
用小丑审判时代 用土豪金审判蚁族
用圆审判方 用天空审判海洋
用铁审判棉花 用坦克审判绵羊和草根
这些沉默的羔羊多么温驯
用炸药审判文字和艺术 用国家审判人民
用雪审判土地 用希特勒审判犹太人
用犹大和晚餐审判十字架上的上帝
用脚审判鞋子 用村庄审判城市
用高高的堤坝审判洪水 用井审判水
用黑哨审判足球 用城管审判小贩
用公仆审判临时工 用暂居证审判民工
用A审判B 用甲审判乙 用笑审判哭
星星和弹孔中的火焰 一直不曾受潮
棋盘上标明你有罪 你就有了罪
那些死于秘密审判的人 那些死于
拘禁和逮捕的人 必定见过
被污染的红旗和手 当一个审讯能手
成为凶手 她光辉而荣耀的一生
制造了多少死亡和冤屈 血书累累
需要经历怎样恐怖可怕的折磨
一个人才会 宁死不生
无懈可击的审讯 究竟对他意味什么
大家注意到了他被狠狠卡过的脖子
但电视已经播出他的口供
他对着镜头和台词做出了自我审判
何需法庭 何需法律 国家不需要这些
因为审判业已完成 这单向式的强大审判
每一个人都可以是罪犯 不过是抓起来
再关进去 硬骨头可以从肉体上消灭
一个个的人陆续入狱 下一个是谁
有什么在崩溃 大好良辰好景虚设
法律形同废纸 有限的公开审判
仿佛秀场 那木马般的程序一旦启动
只要你进去了 你唯一的招就是招
招吧 一个无罪之人的悲伤 略带血痕
和耻辱 泪水如此无力 如你所愿
一个无罪的人最终 低头认罪 阿门
2013.10.29
This poem was written partly in response to the New Express 新快报 / Chen Yongzhou 陈永洲 incident, as the author told me after he showed his poem around on Weibo. However, this is not one of those poems which act like condensed news articles, like Zhao Siyun’s Lily’s Story or Sheng Xue’s Your Red Lips A Wordless Hole (German version see Angelika Burgsteiner’s translation). Han Zongbao‘s poem seems to be less straightforward.
“When an experienced questioner/ becomes a murderer/ her shining and glorious life/ produced how many deaths how many wrongs”
Whose glorious life? The murdering questioners? Why “her”? The female pronoun seems to indicate a particular person. Please look at the comments for answers to these questions.
中国大好き 