Zhou Sese
NORTHEAST SNOW STORM
The woman inside
pushes with all her might
but cannot open the door
to her man outside,
whose eyebrows are white.
He pulls up his legs from the snow
and tries to walk on.
Looking back he sees on the roof
how his wife
climbs out of the smokestack.
The whole Northeast
has added three feet.
4/21/20
Translated by MW, May 2020
Shi Dandan
ACCUSED
Heavens!
A grade ninethousandninehundredninety tornado
takes the earth
to
give himself up
7/06/19
Tr. MW, July 2019
Shi Dandan
ANGEKLAGTER
Himmel!!
Ein Tornado der Stufe Neuntausendneunhundertneunzig
nimmt die Erde mit
um zu
kapitulieren.
2019-07-06
Übersetzt von MW im Juli 2019
Shi Dandan, geb. in den 1950er Jahren in Jiangsu, lebt in Beijing. War Landarbeiter, Fabriksarbeiter, Taxifahrer. Schreibt seit Dezember 2015. Zahlreiche Gedichtveröffentlichungen.
《新诗典》小档案：石蛋蛋。50后，江苏生人，现居北京。插过队，当过工人，开过出租车。2015年12月开始诗歌写作。
有作品入选磨铁读诗会《2017年度中国最佳诗歌100首》和《中国先锋诗歌年鉴.2017卷》，入选《北京评论》2017年中国先锋诗歌夏季排行榜和2018年春季排行榜。有作品发表《诗潮》《流派》《中国诗影响》《大博美》等诗刊。
MAJORCA
majorca feels like taiwan
makes me homesick
at one in the morning
some kind of scent, maybe jasmine
rain
we arrive in a rainstorm
lots of rain next day
tired
sky isn’t dark but it rains
and now there is sun
just a little
and it still rains
then it stops for a while
almost
MW October 2018
MAJORCA 2
first snow has fallen
somewhere in the mountains
it’s still october
we hear it on german island news
in a supermarket
also a tree has fallen somewhere
and caused some damage
half of the supermarket is wine
a pirate statue among the bottles
the roman ruins have a good timeline
local culture peaked around 600 bc
then came the romans
then came keith richards
and diego maradona
in between came the arabs not to forget
we ate pizza at the same place
it was really good
after keith or was it ron wood
came everyone else
wifi still doesn’t work
in our apartment
the air-condition-heating
gives me a headache
the air outside must still be wonderful
two girls swam in the pool downstairs today
maybe the rain stopped for 5 minutes
people swam at the beach
of port alcudia
there was a lifeguard
in a raincoat
it’s a beautiful island
MW October 2018
MALLORCA 3
just a little bit of sun
in the afternoon
on our last day
yesterday we climbed the local hill
hope the goats are ok
a little goat slipped and fell
running from us
got up no problem, mama was waiting
I discovered a bird sanctuary
right next to the big local supermarket
maia carved a pumpkin
jackie cooked a good dinner
we had fun, the four of us
I was sick in the night
and in the morning
Leo too, now he’s fine
we are in the hotel
everyone says the rain is too much
at least it’s not like in the east
people died from the floods
here it’s normal I guess
more or less
we have to pack
and leave early tomorrow
when it’s still dark
MW October 2018
Meihua Yi
LIEBESGESCHICHTE
als ich frisch verliebt war
wollt ich immer reden
und hab mir geschichten ausgedacht
für meine freundin
eine geschichte
spielt in xinjiang
also im fernsten westen
ein fernbus
hat eine panne
kein dorf in der nähe
schon gar kein geschäft
an der landstraße
aber ein schneesturm
am nächsten tag
wird der bus gefunden
fahrgäste und fahrer
sind eisfiguren
nur ein liebespaar hat überlebt
denn dieses pärchen
die haben sich die ganze nacht
im schneesturm so fest umarmt
und einander gewärmt
meine freundin hat es geglaubt
sie hat immer wieder gefragt
und dann, und dann?
was war denn das weitere schicksal des paares?
der hintergrund der geschichte
war natürlich die zeit
der sechziger oder siebziger jahre
Übersetzt von MW im Juni 2018
Guangtou
HOLDING A NOVEL, NOT READING
coming back from tea at a friend’s place
everyone at home is asleep
the restaurant is lit up
good for me when I return late at night
walking out on our balcony
I can hear them downstairs
two women talking
in cantonese
I don’t understand them
after a while
they are silent
it has just rained
they said in the news, a taifun comes tonight
I sit on the sofa
take up a novel
not reading
thinking of something
Translated by MW, September 2017
