Something in my heart has died,
something that keeps me warm and alive.
You hurt me bad,
I hope I never hurt you this way.
Something in my heart walks again,
something that makes me go on.
I hope you feel it as long as you live.
MW April 2019
JESUS LIVES – IT’S ALIVE!
God is poetry
& the other way.
A spectre is poetry
& the other way.
A spirit is poetry
& the other way.
I live in poetry,
in God, if you will.
Always in more stuff
than I’ll ever know.
People have risen.
Hallelujah!
Not “The Chinese People”,
people.
Just people,
unjust people,
& those in between.
In Egypt.
Anywhere.
People will.
Jesus
is often too big,
our pastor said.
Look for the personal stuff,
when Jesus calls
someone by name.
Otherwise it’s too big,
all of it.
Or too empty,
when I read
Jesus lives
on a wall
in the middle of nowhere.
Anarchy works better,
almost any graffiti,
most of the time.
It’s not empty,
Jesus is very much alive
in Chagall’s crucifixions.
spring is a wonderful season
you can smoke outside
you can smoke a pipe if you like
without gloves and a skisuit
and still feel the cold
if you don’t run or ride a bicycle
or even walking is good enough
most of the time
you listen to
The Rolling Stones
The Last Time
for the 145th time
or whatever
and feel the tragedy
of the whole thing
Why are we here?
Why are we alive?
To look at the moon.
To think of each other,
to help each other,
to work for each other.
Why are we here?
To look at the moon.
To feel spring.
Why are we alive?
To feel alone,
to feel hurt.
Why are we here?
To look at the moon.
To look for each other,
to be together,
to smell the night.
Why are we alive?
To feel cold.
To hear the city,
to hear each other.
To look at the moon,
whenever we can.
MW March 2019
LI BIFENG
Daddy, who is this?
He is called Li Bifeng.
I just translated a poem by him.
He is in prison.
They are all in prison.
This one is a writer, too.
Why is he in prison?
He took part in protests, demonstrations.
Demonstration, you remember what that is?
Yes, we were in one together this year.
Where is this?
This is in China.
What else did he do?
He organized strikes.
Do you know what strikes are?
No.
Strikes are when workers in a factory say they won’t work,
all of them.
To get better pay.
To get insurance, you know what that is?
When you are sick, to get money
from insurance so you can get a doctor,
go to hospital.
Daddy, are there any places with no government?
Good question.
There are some places where women are in charge.
They own the land, they run things.
Used to.
Sometimes still do.
Places in China.
Well, they should.
Women are important. Women bear children.
I don’t know if there are any places with no government.
There are some places with not many people at all.
Deserts, mountains.
MW 2013
COMING ROUND
the moon is coming round
she will be perfectly full very soon
she has been out cold for a very long time
people like her
they try to revive her
she’s coming round
it’s always like that
this time of the year
No matter how time
goes back in a circle
in Chinese style,
you have just one life.
Once you are awake
you can’t go back to sleep.
Once you have stood up
you can’t kneel down again.
Once you start learning
you can’t play dumb.
Once you start flying
you cannot go down.
February 2019
Translated by MW, Febr. 2019
Yi Sha MONDNEUJAHRSSCHWUR
egal wie die zeit
wird wie sie war
im chinesischen kreislauf
du hast nur ein leben.
sobald du aufwachst
darfst nicht mehr schlafen.
sobald du aufstehst
darfst nicht mehr knien.
sobald du aufgeklärt bist
kannst nicht mehr dumm spielen.
sobald du fliegst
kannst nicht mehr landen.
vor langer zeit schon
haben wir von diesem vogel gesprochen
keine ahnung woher er gekommen ist
wir waren ganz aufgeregt
er hat uns zum lachen gebracht
an einem abend im winter
in der nacht, da ist er gekommen
wir haben tief geschlafen
niemand hat ihn gesehen
erst in der früh im sonnenlicht
haben wir auf dem glas
einen kleinen schatten bemerkt
der war lange dort
und wollt noch nicht weg
wir haben den winter verflucht
das lange schlafen im winter
wir wollten eine rote lampe
dauernd brennen lassen
um dem vogel zu sagen
dass wir auf ihn warten
die trauben im hof
sind wieder auf dem rahmen gewachsen
die fenster waren nicht mehr zu
wir haben noch auf den vogel gewartet
an einem samstag
bedeckter himmel, kein regen
sind wir zusammen ausgegangen
um ein neues kleid für mich zu kaufen
es ist dunkel geworden,
bei dem wonton-laden mit vielen leuten
haben wir jeder zwei große schüsseln gegessen
auf dem weg zurück
waren wir ganz still
haben uns innerlich nicht wohl gefühlt
daheim angekommen
die lampe im hof ist aufgeflammt und erloschen
eine kette von grünen trauben war auf den stufen
wir sind zugleich stehen geblieben
haben in den himmel geschaut
gleich wieder auf den boden
er war hergekommen
wir haben nicht gewagt, von ihm zu sprechen
nur im stillen an ihn gedacht
gefürchtet, dass er nie wieder erscheint
endlich war die tür offen
der rote glanz hat geleuchtet
auf dem karierten papier
du hast nicht schreiben können
ich wollte das neue kleid anprobieren
und hab die knöpfe nicht aufgekriegt
spring wind, a pair of cattle trying to mate
first time it won’t work
second time, with the help of the holder
they finish the old rite of life
joy is so short, giving birth takes so long
spring wind, please give this moaning cow
a reason not to cry
die seele der feste ring
aus stroh den du aufheben kannst
für den nächsten adventkranz
seelen halten viele jahre
sind aber auch gut
für ein beet am balkon
in ostrava
früher mährisch-ostrau
im großen technischen museum
im eisenwerk vitkovice
steht ein schneckenhaus für die seele
netter versuch
das museum hat insgesamt ziemlich viel seele
allein schon der garten
und jede der vielen vielen abteilungen
sehr viel interaktiv
penisse
vorne gegabelt bei manchen tieren
delphine
fische anpeilen
schwierig für menschenohren
am eingang der ct-scan
stell dich hin
heb den arm, langsam
du siehst in den körper
von den füßen hinauf
mann oder frau
weiß nicht ob sie auch kind haben
nein es ist nicht dein eigener körper
es war ein sträfling
erklärt die nette junge dame
für uns auf englisch
2000 mal in scheiben geschnitten
die frau 2500 mal
es war in amerika
wie gesagt das museum hat seele
nicht zu reden vom ganzen gelände
sehr zu empfehlen!
in christlichen ländern
hat man das allerschlimmste gesehen
jesus und seine jünger
feierten den letzten seder
dann wurden sie vergast & verbrannt
keiner ist auferstanden
außer manche
in der erinnerung
MW Karsamstag/ Osternacht 2017
SCHUSSSTRICH
manchmal hört man
manche meinen
man solle einen schlussstrich ziehen
es gibt umfragen
was kann man alles ziehen im leben?
das schaffnerlos?
was kann man ziehen
vor der vernichtung
nach der vernichtung
vor der vernichtung
schussstriche könnte man ziehen
linien
MW Karsamstag/ Osternacht
BOTSCHAFT
die botschaft von ostern
ist fürchtet euch nicht
singt und freut euch
sagt es weiter
etwas ist stärker
als alle macht
als alle staatlichen wächter
fürchtet euch nicht
ostern ist der sonntag
nach dem ersten vollmond
im frühling
ostern hat mit eiern zu tun
die erde eiert
heut ist der mond schon ziemlich voll
morgen ist palmsonntag
MW April 2017
MACH
mach ein herz
mach eine blume
mach eine sonne
mach einen stern
bitte zeichne mir ein schaf
MW April 2017
BELIEF
when I was small
i believed in god
now i’m still small
MW April 2017
GLAUBE
als ich klein war
hab ich geglaubt
jetzt bin ich
immer noch klein
MW April 2017
信仰
小時候
我相信上帝。
现在
我還是很小。
2017/4
Photo by Juliane Adler
OSTERGESCHICHTE
Jesus war ein Jude,
er wurde gekreuzigt.
Was er hinterließ
gehörte später den Christen.
MW April 2017
EASTER STORY
Jesus was a Jew,
he was crucified.
What he left behind
belonged to the Christians.
MW April 2017
HIT-MAN
clinton would have done
exactly the same
there was nothing wrong with hillary
except she wasn’t bernie
MW April 2017
ESOTERISCH
ah so terrisch
bä so terrisch
ce so terrisch
de so terrisch
eh so terrisch
eff so terrisch
geh so terrisch
ha so terrisch
ih so terrisch
jeh so terrisch
ka so terrisch
el so terrisch
em so terrisch
en so terrisch
oh so terrisch
peh so terrisch
queh so terrisch
err so terrisch
es so terrisch
teh so terrisch
uh so terrisch
vau so terrisch
weh so terrisch
ix so terrisch
ypsilon so terrisch
zet so terrisch
ah net so terrisch
…..
MW April 2016
(terrisch/ derrisch = schwerhörig)
CHINABOX
lea schneiders chinesischer name
kling ein bisschen wie syrien
eine sehr schöne anthologie
sehr sehr reichhaltig
sehr zu empfehlen
sehr gut übersetzt
sehr frisch
das vorwort ist größtenteils gut
leider nicht dort
wo das wort dissident fällt
niemand hat eine ahnung
der nicht im häfen war
oder akut in gefahr
also hab ich auch keine ahnung
weiß nicht ob lea
gedichte von woeser kennt
eine sehr schöne anthologie
sehr sehr reichhaltig
sehr zu empfehlen
sehr gut übersetzt
sehr frisch
lea schneiders chinesischer name
klingt ein bisschen wie syrien
MW April 2017
(Häfen = Gefängnis)
EMMET TILL IN AUSTRIA
we have a 14-year-old
who was brutally killed
shot in the back
by a murderer
who still serves
as policeman
MW April 2017
TO WRITE A POEM
you have to be open
to something different
you have to be open
to something good
sometimes
something
that hurtles,
that hurts.
you have to be open
to hold your step.
you don’t have to be anything.
MW April 2017
BLESSING
bless the unruly
blessed be what happens
blessed be what’s not planned
bless what’s just there
blessed bee
blessed butterfly
blessed butter
blessed batter
bless this batty old bat
blessed hat
bless mother
bless father
bless grass
bless matter
bless them they read
they believe anything
MW April 2017
POESIE
wer poesie übersetzt
soll halt dichter sein
in der übersetzung
dichterin der übersetzung
wer übersetzt
ist fährmann
oder -frau
oder unfair
aber halt bitte nicht
salbungsvoll
After the public transport reform,
our leader has no company car.
To save money,
he takes out a public transport card.
His first day on the bus:
shows his card unasked,
goes to sit down.
“Read your card!”,
says the driver.
Our leader reads it out loud:
“Beijing City Public Transport Card!”
Driver points to the card reader, shouts:
“Read it here!”
Leader returns to the machine by the door,
his voice loud and clear:
“Beijing City Public Transport Card!!”
Tr. MW, Nov. 2016
Cai Xiyin KARTEN LESEN
Nach der staatlichen Wagenreform
hat unser Chef keinen Dienstwagen mehr.
Um Geld zu sparen,
nimmt er sich eine Verkehrskarte.
Dann fährt er zum ersten mal mit dem Bus,
zeigt von selbst seine Karte,
geht zu den Sitzen.
Der Fahrer sagt:
“Karte lesen!”
Er nimmt brav die Karte und liest:
“Pekinger Verkehrsbetriebe!”
Der Fahrer zeigt auf das Lesegerät
und brüllt ihn an:
“Hier lesen!”
Unser Chef geht zurück zum Gerät an der Tür,
liest laut und deutlich:
“Pekinger Verkehrsbetriebe!”
29. November 2016
Übersetzt von MW am 30. November 2016
zum thema kulturrevolution
gab es grosse konferenzen
dann kleine tagungen
dann unterhaltungen mit ein paar menschen
dann erinnerung in schweigen
erinnerung wurde zu einsamen zeichen
schriftzeichen wurden zu ziffern
1966-1976
= – 10, sagt die enkelin vom alten xiao
Übersetzt von MW im November 2016
Zuerst präsentiert auf Weibo und WeChat in Yi Sha’s NPC 新世纪诗典.
opa wurde als grundbesitzer bezeichnet.
papa konnte nicht heiraten,
obwohl er schon ziemlich alt war.
im zorn hat er deshalb
mit opa gebrochen
und meine mutter hat mich geboren.
Übersetzt von MW im November 2016
Zuerst präsentiert auf Weibo und WeChat in Yi Sha’s NPC 新世纪诗典.
wenn ich will, dass mein mann etwas tut
sag ich am satzende “ah”.
zum beispiel
setz teewasser auf, ah!
trag den müll raus, ah!
dreh den fernseher ab, ah!
aber wenn er etwas von mir will
macht er das nie
Übersetzt von MW im November 2016
Zuerst präsentiert auf Weibo und WeChat in Yi Sha’s NPC 新世纪诗典.
April 15, 2016 in Vienna. #Schutzbefohlene *
Spring is a wonderful season,
trees spilling their green.
Some are cut, some are planted.
Downstairs across they are planting a park,
used to be train tracks.
Last year we had refugees at the station.
Spring is a wonderful season.
They said it was 90,000 people or so
in all of Austria,
mostly in a few months,
who wanted to stay in this country.
Ten times more went on to Germany.
So many people wanted to help.
Train workers, even police.
Volunteers, often more than enough.
We live in the neighbourhood.
My daughter Maia went down to play with the refugee children.
After a while she knew the volunteers.
It was safe.
The refugees staid down by the station.
Some people from our house took in refugees.
There was discussion to use the shop,
the empty shop downstairs in this new house,
for refugee quarters.
Just for the winter.
That shop has bathrooms and everything.
But then they closed down at the station.
It was in December.
They took them with buses, they said, from the border.
On to Germany.
If you said you wanted Germany, they let you in.
They were building a fence.
So in December, the station was empty.
Maybe Mid-December.
No quarters in our house.
But people still coming in.
Coming up through the Balkans, used to be Yugoslavia.
In early January we played Tarot down in the library.
We have a library in our house.
And we play cards, for a few pennies.
On Friday nights.
We have had readings, and even theatre.
Gudrun and Peter, they built a stage.
Downstairs in the big common room.
We had a night reciting Bob Dylan.
Down you masters of war.
But then in January, there was Cologne.
In Cologne at the train station, on New Year’s Night.
Hundreds of women harassed.
Raped, one or two.
Many foreign men there at the train station.
Not enough police, or police doing nothing.
We should discuss this, one of us said.
We had been playing cards.
What is there to discuss, there ‘s not much in the news.
Maybe social networks did play a role.
I want to discuss this.
These refugees becoming a problem.
What is there to discuss, there’s not much in the news.
These refugees becoming a problem.
A discussion is stupid, without any facts.
So one of us went away in a huff.
Later I was away, I was in China.
In southern China, a poetry trip.
From southern China to Southeast Asia.
Self-organized.
The year before they went to Vietnam.
Wrote some good poetry.
Vietnam wars in the background,
including China attacking Vietnam.
And other stuff, daily life.
Morning routine.
This year I went with them through Southeast Asia.
Poets from all over China. 16 or 17.
One or two guides.
Guides of Chinese extraction.
Thailand, Singapore. And Malaysia.
Then back to Nanning, to southern China.
Poetry meetings, almost every night.
Sometimes more.
One time in the airport.
Plane was delayed, nothing better to do, call a poetry meeting.
Poems written there on the road.
Yi Sha has this dream, before every border.
Dreaming they won’t let him through.
Normally he writes down all his dreams.
Makes for good poetry.
But not this time, he was afraid.
Only when we were safe in Malaysia.
They had a crackdown, in Kuala Lumpur.
There was an attack in Indonesia.
Muslim majority in Malaysia, too.
If the father is Muslim, the child has to be Muslim.
Not Chinese or anything else.
It was not like this before.
At least according to our guide.
They have elections and a Sultan.
Or they call him a King, at least in Chinese.
It’s a beautiful country.
Tribes in the woods.
Our guide lived with a tribe for a week.
For a project at university.
She was very young, has a small child.
She speaks Fukien Chinese.
Mandarin with the tourists, of course.
Liked to talk about sex.
Malaysian men with many wives.
Just a few Muslims, who can afford it.
On February first, I came back to Austria.
Refugees still coming, though not so many.
News had been shifting.
Creating a climate against refugees.
We put a limit on loving our neighbours.
That was a poster.
The foreign minister, he’s very young.
The interior ministress.
She’s not there any more now, she’ll become governess.
Governor of Lower Austria.
And the candidate.
Their candidate for Federal President.
President is just a figurehead here.
Like in Germany.
In Germany, he is elected in parliament.
So he is from the majority party.
He or she.
In Austria, everyone votes for the President.
Everyone should.
Everyone is automatically registered, every citizen.
Nowadays you can vote in advance.
Local district office.
Ballot per mail, or there at the office.
That guy for limits on loving your neighbour won’t make it.
He’s trailing far behind in the polls.
But his policies are federal policy.
They let that happen, the Social Democrats.
They are the majority.
But they let it happen, they are just like the rightists.
News had been shifting.
These refugees becoming a problem.
Some Social Democrats work with the Rightists.
Those other Rightists.
That Freedom Party.
Some Neo-Nazis.
Some Neo-Nazis cling to this party.
Some were just Liberals.
In the 1980s they were for joining the European Community.
Anyway now they are shameless Rightists.
Austria should not be ashamed, they proclaim.
Including old Nazis, including SS.
And Social Democrats think they should work with them.
But they are trailing, the Social Democrats.
Maybe their candidate will fall behind,
though not as far as the one with the limits.
They are far behind, both of them.
Three candidates are in front.
Front-runner is from the Green Party.
They always were for refugees.
And there is a woman.
Not from a party.
A former judge.
Liberal views, for the economy.
Definitely not from the Left.
Those two were leading.
But Freedom Party candidate is closing up.
No, he doesn’t say we are all Germans.
Though he says many things.
Austrians first, don’t be ashamed.
Don’t be ashamed of anything.
Works better than just talk about limits.
So I’ve voted already, ten days in advance.
I’m afraid.
That Freedom guy is worse than Trump.
Similar causes why they are so popular.
Austria is very small.
President is just a figurehead.
But I’m afraid.
Austria becomes Hungary.
Headline in Switzerland, two days ago.
Rightist government, fences.
Italy protesting, not only Greece.
Against Austria, in the EU.
EU has been weak.
Rightist reactions in Eastern Europe.
Rightist rhetoric against refugees.
From Social Democrats, some of them.
EU is weak, was very weak in the Yugoslav wars.
Mid-April sun is shining outside.
Spring is a beautiful season,
trees spilling their green.
Some are cut, some are planted.
Downstairs across they are planting a park.
Martin Winter
April 15, 2016
*Schutzbefohlene means people placed under protection. It is the title of a play by Elfriede Jelinek, the Austrian author who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2004. She wrote the play in 2013. It was performed, by refugees, at University of Vienna on April 14, 2016, when a group of rightists stormed the stage. They sprayed red paint and reportedly injured performers, including children. I wrote the long poem above on Friday morning, April 15. I had not been at the performance and knew nothing about the incident before my text was finished. But I think my text works as background reading, at least.
Every day needs a moment about life and death.
A tiny boat, riding away from stinky shoes.
A roamer, a heart with a powerful motor.
And you love oblivion, pleading to be forgotten.
Out of daily life, binding and harming you,
you obtain freedom, imagination!
2)
Not that doves triumph, just that lambs do not deserve death.
Not that blades go rusting, just that bombs don’t explode.
Not that fathers be strong, just that mothers wipe away tears.
Not that god’s in his heaven, but the devil forgetting the deal.
Please don’t always groan about yourself; you need to think
of him or her on this world also in sorrow, in prayer.
Tr. MW, March 2016
Shen Wei GEBET
1)
Jeden Tag brauch ich eine lebenswichtige Zeit:
Eine Nussschale, weg von den stinkenden Schuhen.
Ein Fahrender mit einem Motor im Herzen,
der das Vergessen liebt, fleht, dass die Leute nicht an ihn denken.
Weg aus den Wickeln, den Wunden des Alltags,
erlangst du Freiheit, was du dir vorstellst!
2)
Nicht dass Tauben triumphieren, nur dass Lämmer unschuldig bleiben;
nicht dass Messer rosten, nur dass Bomben verstummen.
Nicht dass Väter gesunden, nur dass Mütter Tränen wegwischen;
Nicht dass Gott sei wo er sein soll, nur dass der Teufel den Handel verschläft.
Führ bitte nicht dauernd dich selbst im Mund. Denk an jemand,
der oder die sich ebenso sorgt auf der Welt, betet wie du.
Dieser Monat
ist kürzer als alle anderen Monate.
Ungefähr zwei, drei Tage.
An diesem Tag
ist der Monat zu Ende.
Früher als in allen anderen Monaten.
An diesem Tag
gingen viele Menschen
zu früh in die Nacht.
Und mit diesem Tag war es noch nicht zu Ende.
Unterbrochen
von Schüssen,
von Weinen.
Begraben unter der Asche.
Darüber lauter Asphalt.
Jedes Jahr
bittet jemand für diesen Tag um Verzeihung.
Jedesmal weiß man nicht für wen.
Jedes Jahr
genießen alle den Feiertag.
Eilen auf dem Asphalt,
gehen ins Kino.
Gehen in Restaurants,
empfohlenen im Internet.
Stehen Schlange, um Frühlingskleider zu kaufen.
Eine Statue wird verhüllt.
Niemand weiß, ob der Kopf
Reue zeigt oder grinst.
Vor vielen Jahren an diesem Tag
klang ein Lied aus dem Trichter.
78 Umdrehungen,
ein Lied vom Duft in der Nacht.
“Nacht ist Tag, Tag ist Nacht.
Im Finstern leben, wie kommt man zutag…”
ein bisschen fasten
wär wirklich schön
40 tage keine kronenzeitung
40 tage null mikl-leitner
40 kurze tage kein kurz
40 tage keine begrenzten
keine nächstenliebebeschränker
keine rachenverbreiter
dann immer drei tage weiter
keine auferstehung!
there is a tree in front of our bathroom
in winter the tree doesn’t change
beautiful
tall
I stare at the tree
I want to open the window and have a smoke
peaceful like sitting under the tree
in this non-smoking house
on the rim of Berlin
every day I put on a coat
take a look around
try to open the door
take a walk
light a cigarette
smoke
walk back in
“So beautiful!”
I stare into space
then I realize
he is talking about my belly.
Bulging,
20 weeks pregnant.
Actually I don’t think it’s beautiful.
It’s rather scary.
But I don’t want to disappoint him,
so I tell him I share his opinion.
heute ist karfreitag
ein strahlender tag
viel schöner als viele andere tage
wolken und regen, aber nicht viel
wolken und regen heißt etwas anderes
in der sonne ist es recht warm
der wind ist noch kalt
heuer ist ostermontag der tag des grabes
in china
mein vater ist grad 75 geworden
unser sohn ist 10, unsere tochter ist 12
als baby war sie ein engel
wenn sie nicht schrie
vieles war nicht leicht
vieles ist ungewiss
vieles klingt vielversprechend
manches ist jeden tag fast dasselbe
unsere tochter schreit immer noch
und ich auch
heute ist karsamstag
eine zeitlang war es wärmer als gestern
a slice of lemon
a slice of tangerine
a ginger cake
finally we have snow
MW Dec. 28, 2014
Yi Sha DREAM #203
I am on an iron ladder
on the side of a tall building
I’m facing outside
stepping down slowly
outside of my dreams
I’m not at all afraid of heights
but in this dream
my hands and feet are cold with fear
I’m risking a look
down to what I call
mother earth in my poems
getting dizzy
wanting to fall, headlong
gingerly feeling my way
step by step
finally
losing my feet
but – I’m still okay
because by now
it’s not more than a man’s height to the ground
lightly and softly
my feet touching down
just a bit of relaxing
just a bit of the sun
gleaming on every spire
just a bit of the world
settling down for the evening
and the birds sing for springtime
just like they did when I was a kid
although everything’s new
all the shiny new buildings
in this new part of town
though we’re close to the center
you can see every ridge
it’s a beautiful city
beethoven walked here,
and schubert and brahms
and vivaldi was buried
unmarked, just like mozart
it’s a beautiful evening
of a beautiful sunday
they had eu elections
there is hope for the future
this city is fortunate
this city was worse
the worst on the planet
they voted for hitler
and killed all the jews
and then it was bombed
and then our parents
came here and we grew
and moved elsewhere and now
we are here in this building
in this town on this world.
the city is growing
it is still rather small
it was big and growing
in 1914
now we have the eu
there is privatization and deprivation
all over the continent
still it is springtime
let us build something new.
MW May 25, 2014
Picture by Juliane AdlerTrain station in Liesing, Vienna
李勤岸Li Khin-huann
Translated by Tiunn Boo-thinn 譯 …
We planted sunflowers at Parliament
To bring some sunshine inside
To bring all that mold to light
To bring the people’s rights to light
We planted sunflowers on the president’s lawn
To throw the floodgates wide open
And flood away the steel webs of a dictator
And let the young whales of democracy swim on, and on and on
We planted sunflowers in the streets
To bloom come rain and bloom come wind
To bloom for always and for all days
By the darkening roads we must yet take
We’re planting flowers in every alley and every valley
In the cities and in the country
In the mountains and by the sea
The sun will still flower
May the will of young hearts
Rise up high in our free skies
阮種日頭花
–《人面冊ê花蕊》264
李勤岸
Li Khin-huann
WE PLANT A SUNFLOWER
we plant a sunflower in parliament
to draw in the sun
stir up the poor state of our congress
stir it up for the rights of our people
we plant a sunflower in the president’s palace
to call a young sea spirit of Taiwan democracy
to stir up a flood
to sweep away the iron nets of dictatorship
we plant a sunflower on every street
to brave wind and rain
to stir and bloom
to shine a light on our dark road ahead
we plant a sunflower on every corner
in the village in the city
on the mountains at the sea
to stir and bloom
our spirit of youth
will brighten our homeland and our skies
We teach our kids to believe in justice.
You torture righteous children to death
and exonerate murderers.
We teach our kids to believe in peace.
You betray the people’s trust for your profits.
We teach our children honesty.
You swindle voters, they pay the bills.
We teach our kids democracy.
You auction off our rights on the side.
We teach our children respect.
You trample poor people under your feet
and then give out alms.
We teach our children to live in justice.
You wheel and deal and sell off their homes,
let them drink pesticides crawling and crying.
You call our children a violent mob.
Their clothes may be dirty, at heart they are pure.
Your clothes are perfect, calmly you put on your elegant ties
and wrap the filth in your hands.
You say you’re calling on education
but you let police clobber our children
and have them arrested as criminals.
What we taught our children went against facts.
They had to memorize and recite
and write it one hundred times if they failed.
Now they won’t believe what we tell them.
We put down our textbooks
to practice democracy,
exercising a spirit you never knew.
Protect our children!
Don’t let your cold-blooded thinking sentence them to death.
We are fighting to testify for all those pure and gentle hearts.
Hai Zi
BEIJING SPRING (FACE THE SEA, SPRING IN BLOOM)
from tomorrow, let me be happy
feed horses, chop wood, let me travel the world
from tomorrow, vegetables, grain
I have a house, face the sea, spring in bloom
from tomorrow, writing my family
tell everyone how I am happy
this lightning happiness tells me
what I will tell everyone
give every creek every peak a warm name
stranger, I want to bless you also
may your future be bright
may your lover become your family
may you find happiness in this world
I only want to face the sea, spring in bloom
Der Vogel furzt, der Schneemann weint, die Sonne scheint. Die Mutter schreit: „Hurra! Der Frühling, der ist wieder da!” Die Kinder spielen im Garten. Der Vater schläft im harten Bett. Die Oma, die ist ziemlich fett. Der Opa kocht. Sein Herz pocht, er riecht den Frühling. Die Blumen blühen, die Farben glühen. Das Pferd sagt: „Wieher!” Es klingt wie: „Der Frühling, der ist hier!“ Anna sagt: „Das erste Schneeglöckchen, das gehört mir!“ Die Tulpe sagt zum Löwenzahn: „Hör auf, in mein Gesicht zu niesen, die Rose versucht uns aufzuspießen!“ Doch Adam pflückt die Rose ab und schenkt sie Eva. Das war knapp!
der duft der blueten
erinnert an omi
es ist lange her
gar nicht so lang
sie kann bald in den garten
gut eingepackt
anfang februar kommen die blueten
von weitem wie die baeume in taiwan
die baeume in japan
rosa blueten, manchmal weisse
am donaukanal ist auch ein strauch
in zwei tagen ist valentin
YAN LI! Yesterday I posted his THREE POEMS FROM THE 1980s. Prominent words and themes in GIVE IT BACK (1986), YOU (1987) and YOU (1989) are “love” and “citizen”. The most prominent news story from China in January 2014 was the trial and sentencing of XU ZHIYONG 许志永, a legal scholar and leading activist of the New Citizen movement. Trials, everything connected with rule of law has been very much in the news for a long time in China. See Han Zongbao’s poem 韩宗宝 from fall 2013, for example.
Xu’s statement in court was titled “FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND LOVE“. I was rather surprised at “love” being evoked as a core political value like “freedom” and “justice”. Liberté, Egalité, Amour? Xu’s statement and the accompanying account of how authorities had tried to warn and intimidate him before he was arrested make it clear that he is not only an activist for the rights of migrant workers and for greater openness about public servants’ financial assets. “Can you explain what you mean by Socialism?”, he asks. This is certainly a very important question. China is a Socialist country, at least by name, just like Vietnam, North Korea and Laos. Are there any others? Socialism for China is like Shiite Islam for Iran. But what does Socialism mean, apart from one-party-rule? I think it’s something to believe in, and to practice, to change the fates of working people through actions of solidarity. Isn’t that what the New Citizen movement was trying to do? But Xu has all but dismissed Socialism and has not tried to invoke it as something originally worth believing in. This is understandable, under the circumstances. But can you imagine someone standing up in court in Iran and asking “Can you explain what Islam entails?” Maybe people do it, I don’t know. They probably wouldn’t dismiss religion.
Actually, it is more complicated. I think Xu is testing what is possible. how far the system will go to crush opposition. In his obstinacy he could be compared to Shi Mingde (Shih Ming-te) 施明德 in Taiwan in the 1980s. But Xu is much younger than Shi was in the late 1980s, he was only 15 in 1989.
C:我知道一时半会改变不了你的观点。看过你的档案,你这个人多年来就像一根针一样那么恒定,立场就在那里一动不动。下次接着谈吧。明天后天下午什么时候你觉得合适?
我:明天吧。[words marked by me, see below]
This dialogue between Xu and Beijing State Security official C is very interesting. There is a measure of mutual respect. Xu has spunk, he is brave and obstinate. He mentions “数千万人饿死”, tens of millions died of hunger, as one of the main reasons for not “loving the party” 爱党, as suggested by his interrogator. This dialogue should be very good material for studying Chinese. This section is from the end of the first day (June 25) of Xu’s interrogations in June 2013. You can compare the original to the translation on http://Chinachange.org. In the translation, I could not access the link to Xu’s patriotic article Go Back To China 《回到中国去》, written in New York a few years ago, but it seems to be available on several blogs readily accessible in China.
Words like “citizen” and “love”, and any other words or means of expressions, actually, become something remarkably different in a work of art, different from every-day-usage, and usage in political statements. I find Xu’s use of “love” baffling. “Love” strikes me as rather imprecise, compared to “justice”, for example. Love, simply love, not compassion or caritas. Not bo’ai 博爱, just aì 愛, as in Wo ai ni 我愛你。Imprecise, but endearing, as something obviously non-political. And thus closer to poetry, literature, art? Ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est. All You Need is Love. And so on.
“If I had a hammer I’d hammer in the morning/ I’d hammer in the evening all over this land/ I’d hammer out danger, I’d hammer out warning/ I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters/ All over this land …” Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014)
Olomouc diary
March 27, 2013
Train connection from vienna worked just fine. Half an hour at the border station of břeclav, used it for a short walk, had a big laugh over buying powidl kolačni or so. Tram to down town, found the hostel immediately. Friendly aussies, still.
Weather better than in vienna- at least no snow, and a little bit of sun.
Went out to have lunch in a micro brewery first, then on to the art museum, which has free admission on wednesdays and sundays. Some very strong and original modern stuff here, as well as a lot of boring derivatives.
Tired, both from the museum and the beer with lunch.
Waiting for martin, who went back up to photograph a couple of paintings.
Started talking about all the things we want done in a week- time alone, time together, dissertation writing… I think there just aren’t enough hours in a week. But we will keep working on it.
Went home, Martin quite exhausted. i had gotten a second wind and went out for pizza, which was quite sufficient after a late and massive lunch.
March 28, 2013, olomouc
Next day martin got yoghurt and pastries for breakfast, in a little shop right around the corner, one of these super- narrow slots in a lovely pink art nouveau building with white friezes round the windows.
Did some soul searching on whether to stay one more night. Martin phoned his parents, and they said, fine. Private room was booked already, so we got a dorm room to ourselves, at 600 crowns instead of 900 (24 vs. 36 EUR).
Went to see the town some more, including the noon-day astronomical clock, playing music on its bells and showing happy members of the working classes. Sent postcards to our respective parents. Asked tourist info about concerts that day. No, we would not drive to Brno for that. Girl in the tourist office slightly clueless. Post office right on the square.
Also bought some chapstick, found a minimalist czech version, good quality, but just a tiny amount stuck in a plastic holder. If it gets warm, you have one mess. But hey, it is still winter, and at 11 crowns i am not going to complain.
Had lunch in a place at the university, bishop’s square. Then went home to veg out a bit and even sleep some.
Caught a little concert in the museum of modern art, 50 crown entrance fee. For that, a middle aged lady who sang chansons in czech, her friend the guitar player, the pianist, and the hand drum (hang drum?) player. All very spontaneous, family- like, with the audience humming or singing along occasionally. Not too long, either, stopped just in time for dinner. Back at the lovely micro brewery, which was packed with young people. Another lovely dinner.
And so off to the hostel, chatting a bit to some finnish and portuguese travellers, and off to the bunk beds.
Olomouc art museum collection
Olomouc art museum collection
Olomouc art museum collection
March 30, 2013, train from olomouc to vienna.
Bit cold in the morning,woke up from that. Snow/ sleet falling. Managed a shower, and breakfast, and were out at the railway station in good time. Trains a bit delayed, but we should be home on time. Nice lunch at the breclav railway station canteen, new and clean place with the loveliest bathrooms.
ostermontag ist schön.
man kann die autos zählen
man geht nach emmaus
klingt gar nicht hebräisch.
die meisten sind weg.
ich mein’ nicht die hebräer.
es gibt wirklich nicht viele.
da gibt es den schönberg.
das zentrum dort oben.
ostermontag ist schön.
am schwarzenbergplatz
den stalin umrunden
per roller, zu fuß.
der brunnen geht wieder.
und jemand spielt auf.
das kino spielt das paradies.
das kino kommt weg.
wir geh’n eh viel zu selten.
paradies hat drei teile.
sie heißen glaube, liebe, hoffnung.
ostermontag ist schön.
little wee gets up to play
we are more than what we are
sometimes we may call it god
wee may call as soon as twelve
sometimes we may call it light
wee may call as soon as two
wee may always call at night
little wee wakes up to cry
we are less than what we are
wee may sleep as soon as noon
sometimes we may call it god
wee may call as late as eight
sometimes we can see the light
wee can call us any time
sometimes we can feel the night
sometimes wee can be alright
the days of the blossoms
the yellow the white
the shoots and the air
and the birds and the bees
the flies and the beetles
the earth and the trembling
the cars that come floating
the buildings come tumbling
the life that sprouts
die tage die blueten
die spitzen die gruenen
die weissen die gelben
die bienen die fliegen
die wogen die steigen
die wagen die treiben
die erde die bebt und
das leben das keimt
sie haben den baum vorm fenster gefällt
ich weiss nicht warum
er liegt noch herum
sie standen beisammen im hof und sprachen
von polizei und so sachen
ich fragte nicht nach
wir sind nachbarn im anderen haus
es geht uns nichts an
es war nur der baum
unlängst haben sie sträucher gerodet
da ist eine gesprungen
und eine weile liegengeblieben
hat man dann erfahren
sie haben den baum vorm fenster gefällt
es steht noch ein kleiner gestutzter
und bald kommt der efeu der wilde wein
und was rotes das klettert
und noch weisse sträucher
der baum war alt
er hat halt geblüht
von uns aus gesehen das schönste im hof
jetzt gibt es mehr licht
man sieht in der richtung die serbische kirche
und weniger nester vielleicht
Yi Sha became well-known in the 1990s for acerbic remarks on other poets. He has been widely criticized himself. Spring is a time of hope. The Chinese moon year begins with Spring Festival, the biggest holiday of the year. Typically for Yi Sha, this poem sounds rather mundane, laconic and depressing, dashing most expectations connected with poetry. The line “For suicides tomorrow morning” is a little truncated in my German version that was printed in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (see image). “Für die Selbstmörder von morgen” makes a better rhythm than “Für die Selbstmörder von morgen früh”. In English I wasn’t tempted to leave out the morning. But you could say “dear god/for suicides in the morning/ let it snow once more.” In German there is something like a rhyme within the first two lines. When I was prepared/ To stride into spring/ it snowed again. Does it sound better this way in English too? You decide.
Why did I pick this particular poem? I didn’t pick it for publication. Andreas Breitenstein at NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) likes to print poems whenever he can wrangle a little space in any particular day’s edition. They have to be short. I had translated another poem by Yi Sha about snowfall in 2008. Mr. Breitenstein liked it, but it was too long. So I looked through Yi Sha’s collection Niao Chuang 尿床 (Wetting the bed), published in Taiwan in 2009. It’s a very nice edition. Huang Liang 黃梁, a critic in Taiwan, has brought out two ten-volume Series of Mainland Avantgarde Poetry 大陸先鋒詩叢, in 1999 and 2009. A great resource. I just picked some of the shortest poems in there.
Every country or region has repressed issues. 有時候被壓抑的事偶爾出頭。奧地利前內政部長剛被判4年徒刑。 A 14-year old boy was shot dead for breaking into a supermarket in Austria in 2009. The policeman who ran after him and shot him in the back is still on duty. The facade of the Konzerthaus in Vienna says “Honor your German masters and ban good spirits”. Whom or what did they ban in the 1930s and 1940s? This poem is from Beijing. We lived in Beijing 1999-2008.
Photo by Andreas Landwehr, dpa
reden (und sonnenschein)
reden fegt der wind im winter
fegt der wind im winter weg
reden hilft bei starker sonne
hilft bei starker sonne kaum
reden haelt der sturm im fruehjahr
haelt der sturm im fruehjahr nicht
reden kommt im herbst in beijing
kommt in beijing oft zu spaet
6 on the beach near the northern tip of the island in the danube at vienna, march 20, 2012
island
the danube flows
vienna starts
somewhere downstream.
the island goes
a couple miles
or maybe four.
they have an ice-cream stand today
with buttermilk and radio.
i came to see the cherry trees.
they’re fast asleep.
they need another month or so.
in april we may still have snow.
the cherry trees are from japan.
i went there 19 years ago.
it was before i knew my wife.
i went by boat.
it took two days.
and almost everyone was sick
except the crew.
a boat from china to japan
in january, in ’93.
the plum trees bloomed among the snow.
in february, when i was there.
it’s nice and warm.
the danube flows.
a month ago the cherry trees
and rhododendrons were in bloom
in taiwan, just a month ago.
it was quite warm. we even swam
in mountain streams.
and austria had lots of snow.
today they read for liu xiaobo
they have a day for poetry
when spring begins, from the un
the 18th was for prisoners
in china and america.
for prisoners of politcs.
they have a day for everyone.
the danube flows.
i brought my son to therapy.
he goes to school. there’s progress now.
he speaks much more.
our daughter doesn’t read a lot
but on the whole we’re doing fine.
the danube flows.
this city is a crying shame.
they say it’s very beautiful.
a neonazi gets a third,
a little less.
a rightist. just like hungary.
a little bit more affluent.
Just read a post by a guy called Doug 陀愚。It begins with a child’s drawing from preschool, and ends with the words 日本は絶対復しますので、それまで頑張りましょう。Nihon wa zettai fukushimasu no de, sore made ganbari mashoo. I don’t know if everything can or should be like it was before after such a big catastrophe. I do have great respect for the spirit Doug talks about. Last year in spring I wrote two poems that were inspired or influenced by the Japan 東北 Toohoku earthquake. I am going to put the second one first here. It was translated recently by a Taiwanese friend, and we both read it in public at a bookstore in Taipei on Febr. 26th.
shine and float in white and pink
carried forth into the day all among the loony people
certainly the trees are blooming
growing, falling, ripening
standing, breathing in the wind
weiss und rosa leuchtend schweben
fortgetragen in die tage
unter allen irren menschen
bluehen zweifellos die baeume
wachsen, fallen, reifen, stehen
atmen, oeffnen sich im wind
8 syllables in every line, five trochaic lines, first syllable of every line stressed, then the third syllable, and so on. This is how the German version works, with an additional shorter seven-syllable verse that ends with a stressed syllable, so it’s six lines in all. And in the English version most lines only have seven syllables, except the two in the middle: “all among the loony people/ certainly the trees are blooming”.
the days of the blossoms
the yellow the white
the shoots and the air
and the birds and the bees
the flies and the beetles
the earth and the trembling
the cars that come floating
the buildings come tumbling
the life that sprouts
die tage die blueten
die spitzen die gruenen
die weissen die gelben
die bienen die fliegen
die wogen die steigen
die wagen die treiben
die erde die bebt und
das leben das keimt
shine and float in white and pink
carried forth into the day
all among the loony people
certainly the trees are blooming
growing, falling, ripening
standing, breathing in the wind
die tage die blueten
die spitzen die gruenen
die weissen die gelben
die bienen die fliegen
die wogen die steigen
die wagen die treiben
die erde die bebt und
das leben das keimt
the days of the blossoms
the yellow the white
the shoots and the air
and the birds and the bees
the flies and the beetles
the earth and the trembling
the cars that come floating
the buildings come tumbling
the life that sprouts
Herta Müller’s speech on March 20 in Berlin was published in the FAZ on March 26. Very good speech. She has read the biography. Maybe a little too fast. The labour camp didn’t come immediately after the first prison term. He wrote the confession in prison at the end of 1990 and went free in January 1991. Everything else is correct. The episode with his father, who wanted him to give in. And the labour camp. She does take a side, very emphatically. The last sentence is the most important one. “More and more supporters of Charter 08 are disappearing in jail.” Liu Xianbin was sentenced to 10 years a few days ago. Altogether he has been sentenced for more than 25 years since 1989. His most serious crime seems to have been one of the founders of an opposition party at the end of the 1990s. Liu Xianbin’s wife Chen Mingxian chronicles her life in the last 20 years in this account: http://08charterbbs.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post_23.html
Teng Biao has disappeared, Ran Yunfei has been detained for a while, and now Liu Xianbin has been sentenced to 10 years, to name but a few. The situation is very clear. No progress, just the opposite.
MuseumsQuartier Wien, Raum D / quartier21 - Photo by Pernille Koldbech Fich
it’s not quite spring
a bird is singing in a tree
above the snow
the children eat
or clear away for joy and play
all close to home
i didn’t get you anything
when i was small there was this store
and there we would get violets
or tulips something colourful
to bring your mom or grandmother
and that was all.
Draußen ist Schnee
Der Schnee treibt und fliegt
Der Schnee streicht gern durchs Land wie ich
Streicht über die Erde und fühlt auch die Reue
Draußen ist der Schnee der Fremde
Draußen ist Schnee
Schnee und Regen, die steigern einander
Der Regen weint recht gern, wie du
Der Regen hat die Welt durchschaut
Draußen ist der Schnee des Auslands
Draußen ist Regen ist Schnee
Schnee und Regen hörst du wehen
Auf den Dächern der Fremden
Auf der gesperrten Straße am See
Draußen in Regen und Schnee stürmt der Frühling
Draußen ist Regen ist Schnee
Schnee und Regen fallen schneller
Platzregen in deinen Augen
Schneesturm wie auf meiner Stirn
Draußen sind Regen und Schnee, die reichen in frühere Leben
“Vereint und getrennt in rasendem Wirbel”(1)
Wir wagen den Abstieg, und werden wir Schlamm
Auf die Heimat, die sündige Erde
So kamen wir zurück im Traum …
MW Übers. Okt. 2009
(1) Lisao, Vers 205, Uebers. Peter Weber-Schaefer
heute wird es wieder warm
es gibt kleine lila blumen
und die rosen kommen wieder
und die voegel singen auch
der maulbeerbaum ist arg beschnitten
manche voegel sind gefangen
und gehoeren alten maennern
auf dem schulhof stehen kinder
exerzieren in der sonne
oder manche auch im schatten
heute wird es wieder warm
ich glaub es sind gut 300
kinder zwischen sechs und zwoelf
alle sind gut vorbereitet
we are ready for the games