Xie Xiaozhou
WIRD NICHT STEIF
ich bin noch klein
oma starrt in den stammbaum und seufzt
bei papa bricht unsere linie ab
jedesmal wenn sie so traurig ist
möcht ich dass mir ein penis wächst
im traum ist mir einer gewachsen
er ist in meiner hose
aber er wird und wird mir nicht steif
Übersetzt von MW im März 2017
Geng Zhankun
BELEIDIGT
sie haben ein altes theater abgerissen
sie haben einen ahnentempel demoliert
sie haben den hof ausradiert, wo der urgroßvater geboren wurde
wo sein urenkel hochzeit halten wollte
sie haben das ganze dorf abgerissen mit dreihundert haushalten
und stammbäumen von 400 jahren
und die alten gräber die keiner mehr kennt
sie wollen ein vergnügungsviertel errichten
sie wollen ein kaufhaus erbauen
und noble wohnhäuser
das kann ich verstehen
was ich nicht verstehe
tut was ihr halt tut
aber dass ihr hier wo das dorf der familie shen war
ein großes schild hinstellt
“slumviertel-umgestaltung”
ihr stößt leute nieder
und spuckt auch noch drauf
Übersetzt von MW im Februar 2017
FRAUENSCHUHE AUS CHINA
19. Jahrhundert
Kleine Füße
und die kunstvoll
bestickten Schuhe
welche die Frauen
selbst herstellten
galten als
Schmuck und Stolz
der chinesischen Frau.
Bei den chinesischen Frauen
zeigte das wiederholte Verbot
des Füßebindens
durch den manschurischen Kaiser
keinerlei Erfolg.
Gebundene Füße
wurden somit
in Zeiten der Fremdherrschaft
zu einem nationalen Zeichen
des Chinesentums.
Als reine
Frauentradition
brach die Mutter ihrer Tochter
ab dem Alter von etwa fünf Jahren
erstmals die Füße.
Genauso wie
die Herstellung von Textilien
galt es als wichtige Fertigkeit
die Mütter ihren Töchtern
in den sogenannten Inneren Gemächern
vermittelten.
Museumsführer 2013, Übersee-Museum Bremen.
Auswahl und geringe Modifikation eines Verbs:
MW Oktober 2016
June Yang (Yang Yujun)
NACHT MACHT MEIN HAUS ZUM PALAST
Nacht macht mein Haus zum Palast.
Narben und Schäden leuchten und strahlen.
Schwellen aus Jade, Mauern aus Seide, Dach als Glasur.
Jenseits der Großen Mauer,
tief im sonnigen Süden,
weit im Westen der Sage,
das oströmische Reich.
Länder und Völker kommt mit Tribut, tausend Arten von Schrift,
lauter Blüten und Kräuter.
Lass mich spielen summen singen,
folg dem alten Qu Yuan,
folg Bo Ya mit der Zither,
Xi Kang dem Musikdissidenten im Bambus,
folg Jiang Kui aus der Song-Dynastie;
dem Tang-Kaiser mit seiner tragischen Liebe,
dem gefangenen Kaiser Li Yu.
Alle Röhren und Saiten,
Schattenduft, Zwetschken blühn;
Pavillon, Turm, Terrasse, Lusthaus im Garten.
Die süßesten Lieder,
die Seitengebäude.
Kein Fürst geht verloren im eigenen Palast,
nur ich verirr mich.
Mancher Fürst sank in Schrift und Gesang und sein Reich ging perdü,
das wird mir nie geschehen.
Übersetzt von MW im Mai 2016
Li Cha
TIME FOR DEATH, DEATH IS GOOD
down by the mountain wall
empty pig trough
sun drinks the water
donkey pen stands next to the trough
no donkeys at all
my mother sits weaving in her own house
her loom rattling on, rattling on.
she weaves and she weaves and she looks at the mountain
there is a woman who says from the wall
“red red rose, time for death, death is good.”
Tr. MW, May 2016
Ma Fei
WHY WRITE POETRY?
In my dream
they hung me up,
dipped a whip in cold water
to beat me,
so I should confess.
Their question
was tricky:
“Why do you write poems?”
I told the truth:
“I don’t know.”
The leather lashed as heavy rain,
thicker, harder.
Really couldn’t stand it,
so I roared, “Pain! …”
A miracle happened,
the rain stopped.
2016
Tr. MW, 2016
《为什么写诗》
梦里
我被吊起来
有人用皮鞭
沾凉水
抽打我
严刑逼供
他们的问题
十分刁钻：
“为什么写诗”
我据实回答：
“不知道”
皮鞭变雨点
更密集地落下
实在受不了
我大喊一声：
“疼啊——”
奇迹发生了
雨点停了
Ma Fei
ALS ICH KLEIN WAR
in der nacht
geh ich raus aufs klo
sehe
die schaukel
an der weinranke
schwingt noch
mondlicht
sitzt
und freut sich
2015
Übersetzt von MW im Januar 2016
馬非
《小时候》
夜半
出门小便
看见
挂在葡萄架
的那具秋千
还在晃荡
月光
优哉游哉
坐在上面
2015
Ma Fei
IN DOUBT
Some people say this country
resembles a public toilet.
Some go further and say
it is a latrine.
I am not of the same opinion.
Whenever I enter such a latrine
I feel I am going to
spit out all my entrails.
In real life
I don’t feel this
all the time.
2015
Tr. MW, 2016
Ma Fei
ZWEIFEL
manche sagen dieses land
gleiche einem pissoir
andere meinen sogar
es sei eine latrine
ich hege nicht dieselbe meinung
auf einer latrine
hab ich immer das gefühl
ich spucke alle innereien heraus
sonst im leben
ist das
nicht immer so
2015
Übersetzt von MW im Januar 2016
《质疑》
有人将这个国家
比喻成公共厕所
更有甚者
比喻成公共旱厕
我是有不同意见的
每次出入旱厕
无一例外都会产生的
吐光内脏的感觉
在现实生活中
我不是无时无刻
都有的
2015
Ma Fei
DOG POEMS – HUNDEGEDICHTE 2016
2016年第一浪
《决定》
有关狗诗
就是再好
我也不写了
在老婆说出
“等儿子
上大学去了
也养一条狗”
之后
DECISION
Dog poems,
even if they are good ones,
I’m not going to write them,
after my wife said,
“once our son
has left for college,
we’ll get a dog too.”
2016
ENTSCHEIDUNG
hundegedichte
auch wenn sie gut sind
werd ich nicht schreiben
nachdem meine frau gesagt hat
“wenn unser sohn
weit weg auf der uni ist
dann nehmen wir
uns auch einen hund”
2016
《人民》
我对人民的反感
源自小时候
看过的电影
银幕上面的家伙
老以人民的名义
杀人
有一次
他们枪毙了
我喜欢的一个
女孩的父亲
使小姑娘
悲痛万分
无路可走
投河自尽
THE PEOPLE
my feeling against The People
comes from my childhood,
from the movies I saw.
those guys on the screen
they always killed
in the name of the people
one time they shot
the father of a girl I was fond of
the girl was so desperate
she saw no way out
drowned herself in the river
2016
DAS VOLK
meine abneigung gegen das volk
kommt aus den filmen
aus meiner kindheit
auf der leinwand
haben sie immer
im namen des volkes
leute getötet
einmal
wurde einer erschossen
der war der vater
eines mädchens
das ich gern hatte.
sie war untröstlich
sah keinen ausweg
und ging ins wasser
2016
《冲突》
针对一部电视剧的结尾
由于我的一句话
和老婆发生了冲突
还颇为激烈
作为主人公的革命老干部
在即将告别人世之际
哆哆嗦嗦地翻阅
儿子给他偷印来的档案
说：“你们看看
我一生清白
一个污点都没有
我很满足很幸福”
然后含笑而逝
我多嘴说：
“他应当痛哭才对”
Ma Fei
ARGUMENT
Concerning the end of a tv drama,
I had an argument with my wife,
it got rather intense.
The revolutionary cadre,
about to take leave from this world,
trembling while reading his file,
secretly printed out by his son,
saying: “You all take a look,
my whole life is blameless
not one little blemish!
I am happy, I am content.”
Then he dies with a smile.
And I ruined it and said:
“He should have been in agony!”
2016
Tr. MW, 3/29/16
《人生是无尽的忍受》
虽然说
人生是无尽的忍受
但也有憋不住的时候
如果我不写诗
进行疏导
就爆炸了
尽管是因为写诗
才让我知道
人生是无尽的忍受
Ma Fei
LEBEN IST ENDLOSES ERTRAGEN
obwohl man sagt
leben ist endloses ertragen
manchmal kann man es nicht mehr halten
würd ich nicht schreiben
für umleitung sorgen
müsst ich explodieren
obwohl ich durchs schreiben
erst richtig erfahre
leben ist endloses ertragen
2016
《错过》
在刚刚过去的夏天
在西安小寨的天桥上
我被一位大学同窗
也是前女友拍入手机
她当时并不知道
是在事后整理照片时发现的
而我是在她把照片发过来后
才知道在那个时刻
我们俩同时出现在一个地点
硬生生地错过了
其时她在拍摄一个乞丐
无意间把我也拍了进去
从照片上看
我正经过这个乞丐
没给钱
Ma Fei
MISSED
This summer in Xiaozhai in Xi’an,
on a pedestrian bridge.
A friend from college,
my former girlfriend,
she took my picture but didn’t know it.
Only later she went through her mobile.
She sent it to me, then I realized,
we had been there at the same time,
but missed each other.
She took a photograph of a beggar,
I was in there by accident.
You can see on the photo,
I passed the beggar,
gave him no money.
2015
Tr. MW, 2016
Ma Fei
VERPASST
im grad erst vergangenen sommer
xiaozhai in xi’an, eine fussgängerbrücke
dort hat mich meine frühere freundin
und studienkollegin fotografiert
sie hat es zuerst nicht gewusst
später in ihrem handy hat sie mich entdeckt
mir das foto geschickt dann habs ich erst gewusst
wir waren gleichzeitig am selben ort
und haben uns ausgerechnet verpasst
sie hat einen bettler fotografiert
mich dabei zufällig auch aufgenommen
auf dem foto sieht man
ich geh an dem bettler vorüber
und geb ihm kein geld
2016
Übersetzt von MW, 2016
《屠呦呦》
屠呦呦在瑞典斯德哥尔摩
领取诺贝尔生理学或医学奖
并发表获奖感言的消息
中央电视台在新闻联播中
安排播出了
时间虽短
但还是看得我一身汗
我是担心啊——
播音员嘴一秃噜
来上这么一句：
“这是勤劳智慧的中国人民
又一次伟大的胜利”
说是中医的胜利
我勉强可以接受
Ma Fei
TU YOUYOU
Tu Youyou received her Nobel
in Stockholm
Biology prize or Medicine prize
and thanked them
on China Central Television
they didn’t air her for long
but I started sweating
I was afraid
the speaker would blurt out:
“This is another victory
for the working masses’ wisdom
of the Chinese people.”
If it was a victory for Chinese medicine,
I guess
that would be ok.
2016
Tr. MW, April 2016
《踟蹰》
我要去造访
一座雪山
从现在上路
需要耗时
一个冬天
这没什么
问题是你说：
“走到那里
就是春天了
冰雪该化了”
《不屑爱》
酒后归家
老婆正用IPAD
看电视剧
她说：“去
给我接盆水
洗脚”
半路折回
我问：“为啥”
“这里面说
男人给女人洗脚
可以证明爱”
她指着IPAD说
“那就算了
不过……
我给你捏背”
《新年联欢会》
他唱得真好
比原唱还好
可是他唱得越好
我越觉得不好
终至以接电话为由
逃到外面抽烟
他五十大几
听说曾有老婆
但跟别人跑了
是我们单位
临时聘来
打扫卫生的
那天他唱的歌曲是
《爱江山更爱美人》
《可怕》
事情的可怕之处
不在于
你离不开手机了
却可以任由
她的离去
而在于
在她离去的时候
你甚至都没有
从手机上
抬一下头
《读书生活》
有的书
我压根不知道
它的存在
有的书
我扫了一眼书名
就丢到一边去了
有的书
我读了开头
就丢到一边去了
有的书
我读到一半
就丢到一边去了
有的书
我是从中间读起的
有的书
我只读了最后几页
有的书我读完了
有的书我想读完
可是我读不完了
有的书会读到
我的结尾
Ma Fei
ICH WILL JEMANDEN SCHLAGEN
an einem tag
unterwegs
im bus
beim abendlichen spaziergang
haben drei leute
wie ausgemacht
mich dasselbe gefragt:
“da ist etwas in der luft,
es stinkt, riechen sie das?”
ich sag jedesmal
“meine nase ist entzündet”
wie ausgemacht
haben alle drei nicht nur neid im gesicht
sondern antworten auch noch dasselbe:
“entzündete nase haben ist gut!”
2016
《我想打人》
一日之内
在路上
在车上
在夜晚散步的时候
跟约好了似的
分别有三个人
如是问过我
相同的问题：
“空气里有股臭味
你闻到了吗”
我告诉他们
“我有鼻炎”
跟约好了似的
这三个人
不但露出艳羡的神色
还异口同声：
“鼻炎真好”
Ma Fei
NACHREDE
tief in meinem traum
hat mich jemand leise erwähnt
ich spitz die ohren
hör nur einen satz
aber das ist genug:
“dieser kerl ma fei
ist ziemlich stolz.”
ich bin gleich erleichtert
und kicher sogar
das war gute nachrede
jedenfalls
für einen dichter
2016
《坏话》
在梦的深处
有人悄声议论我
我竖耳细听
只捕捉到一句
但已足够
“马非这个家伙
比较傲”
我一下子放松了
还扑哧一笑
这哪是坏话
分明是表扬
对于诗人来说
《牙疼的好处》
让我相信
这个世界
还有美好
存在
意欲获取
也并不
十分困难
治好了牙
便得
《荡妇》
许多年过去了
这个非议女人
最恶毒的词
我几乎都是从
女人的口中
听闻的
《乘机经历》
在候机厅
老能听到
这样的广播：
“XXX乘客
您乘坐的航班
即将起飞
请速到X号登机口
上飞机”
有时不免奇怪
他们干啥去了
有时还很羡慕
仿佛如此待遇
是多好的待遇
于是就有了一次
如下的经历：
其实我早早到了
直到最后一名乘客登机
还稳稳地坐着
耳朵持续充血
越来越硬
越竖越高
也没听到
喊自己的名字
终至按耐不住
一个箭步
窜到登机口
递上登机牌
在美女地勤的白眼中
狂奔而入
《一种现实》
他对我说话的时候
看着别人
他冲别人说话的时候
目视着我
我正试图理解
错在我与别人
所处的位置关系
有问题
而不是他的生理缺陷
——斜视
做不到我也得做
《冬日在杜甫故里》
刚踏入大门
一个上了年纪的
女人就小跑过来
“师傅
麻烦给我拍一个照
和他”
她递上手机
又手指杜甫雕像
“天太冷了
我找了好半天
一个人也没有”
Ma Fei
KUNSTWERK
ich glaube nicht
dass der schornstein
der hinter der statue
des dichters Du Fu
in dem ort wo er lebte
fröhlich paffend
schwarze wolken ausstößt
böse absicht ist
im gegenteil
er meint es gut
es ist eine aktion
er will kontrastieren
kontrastieren und stärken
die sorge des dufu
um sein ganzes volk
dieser klassische ausdruck
das ist ihm gelungen
2016
Ma Fei
ART PIECE
I don’t think
the smokestack
spouting
clouds of dark smoke
behind Du Fu’s statue
in the town where he lived
was put there with ill will.
On the contrary,
I think it is well-intentioned.
It is a performance,
they want to contrast and emphasize
Du Fu’s great sorrow
for the land and the people
that classic expresssion
it shows very well
2016
Tr. MW, April 2016
《作品》
我不认为
立在杜甫故里
其塑像身后
不远处小山上
咕嘟咕嘟
冒黑烟的烟囱
是有人恶意而为
相反我以为
他充满好意
是行为艺术作品
他想借此达到的
烘托和强化
杜甫忧国忧民
经典表情的目的
实现得很完美
《在杜甫陵园》
在杜甫的雕像上
我找不见杜甫
在各色名人
以杜甫的诗句
为书写内容
的书法碑刻上
我找不见杜甫
在杜甫的坟前
我找不见杜甫
直至绕他的坟茔
步行一周
中途与一株正吐露
黄花的腊梅相遇
在微雪之中
Ma Fei
ICH BIN ERST 45
den ganzen tag
hab ich an sex gedacht
mehr als an geld
überhaupt kein vergleich
wirklich
nicht schlecht
2016
Ma Fei
THIS YEAR I AM JUST 45
This whole day
I thought about sex,
so many times,
so much more
than about money;
I’m very content.
2016
Tr. MW, April 2016
《45岁某夜的一点反思》
一天之中
我想到性
比想到钱
的次数
依然多出
很多
对此
我很满意
SPRING IS A WONDERFUL SEASON
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.
Ru Ye
AT MALAYSIA’S KENTING CASINO
Too many gamblers jump to their death
from above the clouds at 1800 meters.
The Kenting Casino has 6118 beds,
floating up there like in Taoist caves,
away from it all.
Now you can only just stretch out your hand,
every window’s restricted.
To fly like a fairy,
look for other options.
Every ceiling in every bedroom
has a black arrow
(first time I slept under a sword of Damocles) ,
to show the direction for prayer.
2016-02-12
Tr. MW, April 2016
martin winter
LASST FA UND MI UND IHR TEAM NICHT MEHR ARBEITEN
lasst f und m und ihr team nicht mehr arbeiten
steckt sie in einen lastwagen
schmuggelt sie durch bis nach nordkorea
dann lasst sie stehen
ganz ohne papiere
vielleicht noch ein erdäpfelgulasch
eine portion powidltatschkerln
ein paar buchteln
platzki
dann sollen sie sich durchschlagen
mit versteckter kamera
die wird wahrscheinlich bald konfisziert
also gleich ohne
und ohne handy
vielleicht ein bisschen chinesisches geld
oder ist das zuviel
an mindestsicherung
MW 4.März 2016
Xiang Lianzi
HOW TO STICK GOLD ON A BUDDHA IN THAILAND
Dodging the rain to get into the temple,
an attendant hands me a small piece of
gold foil.
I think this is like in the shopping centres;
they hand you a discount sticker at the entrance,
so I stick the gold foil next to my heart.
“You cannot stick gold on yourself!”
I am reminded,
you have to stick gold on the Buddha.
Wherever something is wrong,
where you don’t feel well,
you put the gold on that part of the Buddha,
and pray for protection.
So I take the foil from my chest
to rub it on him at the same spot.
1/24/16
Tr. MW, Feb. 2016
Bai Li
MALAYSIANS CAN SHOOT UP THEIR WIVES
On the battlements of Malacca,
our guide told me (she is Malaysian of Chinese extraction)
there is a provision in their constitution:
Malaysian Muslims can have four wives
and screw them at once any way they please.
But Chinese can’t do that,
she said with a smirk.
But then Chinese men must use their cannons,
I told her at once.
January 2016
Tr. MW, Febr. 2016
南行记： FROM SOUTHERN CHINA THROUGH SOUTHEAST ASIA
THE MOON IS FASTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE
people are slow here
says our guide
you have to get used to them
then it’s dark in a jump
and the moon climbs very fast
to her highest position
guess she is happy
to serve Chinese tour groups
so these few years
she runs faster and faster
January 2016
SLEEPING PALACE
actually the palace is very still
tourists stream in and out
serious people stay in their pictures
the palace is sleeping
in history
Bangkok, January 2016
IN THE EMPORIUM OF PRECIOUS STONES
In the emporium of precious stones
there is a smoking room,
looks a bit like a prison.
Men who need separation
quietly gather,
with their heavy hearts
just for a short spell;
then go on buying things.
January 2016
TRANSVESTITES IN THAILAND
“Some are half-demon,
half-demon, half human.”
I am sure our guide is a man.
He is open-minded, just like his country.
“We in China this, China that …”
I wish his China was a real country.
MW January 2016
VACATION
Let us go diving into the deep.
Last year in August
someone in Tianjin
said one thousand people had died.
He was put in jail.
Let us go diving.
Elections this year in Taiwan,
first female president.
Let’s go now, let’s go.
These few days
someone gave an interview
voice of freedom or something.
Said the city he lived in
was not free,
autonomous region was not autonomous.
Let us go diving now.
He got fourteen years.
He wasn’t the first.
Let’s go now, go.
There’ll be other things
planned for the afternoon.
January 2016
SHE HAS TO BE PERFECT
In Singapore
we have a new guide.
Her name means “swallow”.
She explains about their laws.
Sounds a bit like Thailand
talks about Buddhism.
“You have to be careful,
you can’t just sit down anywhere.”
We get in very late
but we still call a reading.
Across the street from the hotel
you can sit outside,
you can even smoke.
Long as you don’t toss the butt.
When you order a beer,
one bottle per person may be too much.
Where is the moon?
In Singapore
she obeys the law to the letter,
otherwise they beat her behind.
She steps out of the clouds
in her most perfect poise.
January 2016
POETRY READING IS GOOD
Poetry Reading’s good,
Poetry Reading’s good.
In our New Poetry Canon, people’s dignity is high.
System clique’s in the dregs,
state-sanctioned writers scurry with their tails between their legs!
January 2016 (to the tune of Socialism Is Good)
MOSQUE & CASINO
Mosque and casino
both have Adam and Eve.
The casino in Singapore
at the Botanical Garden
greets you with Dali and with Botero.
Botero’s sculptures Adam and Eve
at the gate of the casino.
What would the artist think of this sight?
Art is a rather ambivalent thing.
Poetry makes you a better person?
The mosque in Malaysia’s government district
is a sight to behold.
I am folding my hands.
An old lady asks me if I am a Muslim.
I just bow and keep silent,
so she lets me go in
and helps me taking pictures.
She sees I don’t know how to pray
so she gives me a folder and tries to explain.
There’ll be prayer time in forty minutes.
Men at the bottom, women up there.
She hopes I can make it.
The folder says
Adam and Eve were also Muslims.
Adam was the first Prophet.
The Mosque has Quran editions in English.
I flip through a section.
Allah bestows many signs on mankind.
Sleep is also a sign,
along with creation
and languages and different colours.
We haven’t had enough sleep on this trip.
Soaring up with my eyes,
I think being a Muslim is good.
I know why it’s forbidden to make any idols.
Half an hour later we are drinking beer.
I am still a believer
in beauty in art.
Poetry and art are signs of Allah.
January 2016
HEROES’ MONUMENT OF MALAYSIA
Was it a glorious thing when they died?
Did they go to war
for peace and freedom?
In World War I
In World War II
In civil war
they hardly had any choice.
In 1966
Malaysia’s prime minister had them erected
a park of monuments.
They already had one from World War I.
With names from Europe, also from India.
Probably officers.
To make this park for all those who died,
all those who gave their lives in the wars.
In 1966.
I was born in that year.
Maybe this monument
was a good idea.
January 2016
COMING BACK FROM ABROAD, LADEN WITH TREASURE
Coming back from abroad, laden with treasure.
Thanks everybody!
Thanks to Rong Bin,
to Niu Yihe, to 3A.
Thank you, Li Zhenyu.
You said my diarrhoea
was as fast as my poetry.
Thank you, Benben.
You made me eat Durian.
Thank you, Jun Er.
You bought me beer.
Thank you, Xiang Lianzi,
you offered me coffee.
Let’s all thank Jiang Tao
helping us to get back on the bus.
Thank you, Gao Ge
you helped me smuggle pillows.
Thank you, An Qi,
you helped me buy a mattress.
Thank you, Ru Ye,
we slept in one bed,
you recited erotic poetry for me.
Thank you, Xing Hao.
You sang praise to my body hair.
Thanks everyone for beautiful poetry.
Let’s say thanks to our guides,
A Fu and A Ping, Ms. Yan, Ms. Chen –
and on our last day
Mr. Chen, who had studied in Canada.
They taught us how to speak,
how to say thank you.
Kap kun ka – your credit card is empty.
Dai ni ma kan xi – take your mom to a theatre.
Our guides taught us history
and facts about Chinese minorities.
The Chinese platoon #93
in the Golden Triangle.
The Singapore Church of The Law.
Their story of independence.
The state of Malaysia,
elections and tribes.
Thank you, Yi Sha!
We had so many readings.
We broke every record.
We come back from the south,
laden with treasure.
January 2016
《南行記》
《月亮比别人快》
泰国月亮比别人快
导游说
这里人比较慢
你们要习惯
可天一下子就黑了。
月亮很快
爬得最高的位置。
我看月亮很积极
迎接中国的游客。
这几年大概
越来越快了。
2016. 1. 20
《皇宫睡覺》
泰國皇宫其實很安静。
游客游來游去。
遗像的人物
都比較嚴肅。
皇宫睡覺
在歷史裏。
2016.1.21
《寶石店吸煙室》
寶石店吸煙室
像臨時監獄。
需要隔開的男人
懷著沉重的氣氛
都自愿地集合。
關起來幾分鐘
然後繼續購物。
2016.1.22
《泰国人妖》
“有的是半妖,
半人半妖。”
我们华裔导游
肯定全是人。
而且思想开放,
就像他的国家。
“我们中国
怎么样怎么样…”
但愿中国
真是他的国家。
2016.1.22
《度假》
我们去潜水吧
去年八月份
有人说天津
死了一千
被关起来。
我们去潜水吧。
今年台灣选举
第一位女总统。
去吧, 去吧。
这几天
有人接受访问
自由之声
说他所在的城市
不自由
自治区不自治。
我们去潜水吧。
他被判十四年。
也不是第一人。
去吧, 去吧。
等到下午
还有别的项目。
2016.1.23
《不敢不完美》
到了新加坡
燕子导游解释
最严格的法律
听来崇拜法规
像泰国拜佛。
到了旅馆很晚。
还是開詩會。
过马路坐外面
可以抽烟。
只要烟蒂不扔。
点啤酒不能
一人一次一瓶那么多。
月亮在哪儿
在新加坡
月亮遵守严厉法律
否则打她的后面
月亮出彩云
就剛恰当。
2016.1.25
《詩會主義》
詩會主义好,
詩會主义好。
我们的新詩典人民地位高。
体制派被打倒,
作家协会夹着尾巴逃跑了。
2016.1.26
《赌场跟清真寺》
赌场跟清真寺有什么关系?
都有亚当和夏娃。
新加坡植物园赌场
有西班牙、哥伦比亚
艺术家 DALI, BOTERO
的作品。
BOTERO 的雕塑亚当和夏娃
放在赌场门前
艺术家自己会怎么想?
艺术是很暧昧的东西。
诗歌让你做更好的人吗?
马来西亚行政中心大清真寺
非常壮观
老年纪女人让我进去做礼拜
問我是穆斯林吗
我沉默不否认
可以随便进去
也可以照相。
她看出来我不知道怎么祈祷
就給我指示, 还解释很多。
不到一个小时有礼拜的时间。
男士下面, 女士在上。
欢迎我参加。
她給我的手册裏寫着
亚当和夏娃是穆斯林。
亚当就是第一位先知。
清真寺裏有古兰经
英语版读一片段
上帝安拉給人类的指示。
睡觉也是安拉的指示,
像创造世界所有的现象
包括不同的肤色和语言。
这几天我们都睡觉太少。
站在让你眼睛翱翔的大厅
我愿意做穆斯林
并明白為什麽禁止做偶像。
半个小时以后我们喝啤酒。
我这个虔诚的穆斯林
崇拜艺术的美丽。
美丽就是安拉的指示。
2016.1.28 凌晨3:27
《马来西亚英雄纪念碑》
他死得很光荣吗?
他去打仗都是
為自由、 和平?
第一次世界大战
第二次世界大战
还有内战
他反正都是无奈的。
一九六六年
马来西亚首相让他们做
综合的纪念碑公园。
一战的碑已经有,
上面的名字都來自欧洲和印度。
給所有去打仗献出生命的同胞们
立纪念雕塑、 修一场公园
在我出生的一九六六年
也许好主义。
2016.1.28
《從東南亞满载而歸》
从东南亚满载而归
谢谢大家
谢谢荣斌
牛依河、三个A
谢谢李振羽
说我寫詩跟拉稀一样快
谢谢笨笨
給我吃榴莲
谢谢君儿
給我买啤酒
谢谢湘莲子
催我喝咖啡
谢谢蒋涛
催大家上车
谢谢高歌
替我走私枕头
谢谢安琪
替我买床垫
谢谢如也
跟我过夜
读色情诗歌
谢谢邢昊
赞颂我的毛
等等
谢谢很多人寫我
谢谢导游
阿福阿平燕子小陈
还有最后一天
从加拿大留学回来的马来西亚导游
导游们教我们
怎么说谢谢
卡空卡
带你妈看戏
教我们
他们国家当代历史
和华人情况
金三角93军队
芭提雅人妖
新加坡崇拜法规
含泪宣布独立
马来西亚民族和选举
谢谢伊沙
到处開詩會
肯定破了记录
我们大家
满载而归
2016.1.29
《走向世界》
青海国际诗歌节
已经买了
向世界开放的
门票
诗人们可以
统统离开
走向世界
2015.8.11
《梦见马非当警察》
梦见马非当警察
因为在公共场所念诗歌
把我和伊沙跟一批外国诗人
统统带到警察局
进去伊沙
展示记者证
没多少用处
我们在走廊等了很久
一直到黑夜
虽然做诗歌朋友
马非不能放我们
好像不行
2015.8.10
《青海湖沙丘》
安静下来
可以安静下来
沙丘它每天
都安静下来
游客们来了
游客能玩
沙丘它可以
安静下来
2015.8.8
《美国革命诗人》
“中国革命是二十世纪
最伟大的革命！”
我们生活在
二十一世纪。
这位美国诗人
还喜欢生活
在上世纪六十年代。
不知道他是否读过
上世纪初写的AQ。
2015.8.9
《坐飞机》
水不像水
白云军队
白云的阴影
好像不走
陆地上也有
白云更密
就只有云
坐飞机为特权
虽然现在很多人坐飞机
坐飞机等于你有足够的钱
或你足够重要
坐飞机快
但飞机上时间多半是你的
可以看白云
可以看电影
可以聊天、睡觉
也可以写诗
当然如果每天坐飞机
就不同。
白云不同吗？
影子不同吗？
至少聊天、写诗
大概不同。
2015.8.4.
《詩人》
诗人
比较像孩子
失去了某种
大人的成分
所以叫诗人。
2015.8.4.
Yi Sha
Song dynasty lyrics: Qing Ping Yue
for Martin
Frost state has no temples,
but there are times to see each other.
In my country, small people keep chirping.
Beyond the skies I am finding my friends,
red maple leaves on the trails in green hills,
streams keep on flowing.
Two people born in the year of the horse:
We raise our heads, go like the wind.
Written 10/16/14 at Vermont Studio Center
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
Yi Sha
SONG OF VERMONT
(Tang dynasty style)
Green peaks raise blue skies,
clear brooks meet in ponds.
Maples reflected –
is this the real world?
Wang Wei walked here
to his Journey’s End.
Frost stopped in woods,
we have miles to go.
I am just a guest,
with geese flying south.
Red leaves send us off,
snowflakes greeting spring.
Written 10/16/14 at Vermont Studio Center
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
Yi Sha
RED LEAVES (Tang dynasty quatrain)
Have met frost, heart’s still warm.
So in this fall I meet red leaves.
Should we cover all the roads?
Like a bell I sit in Chang-An*.
Written 10/15/14 at Vermont Studio Center
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
*Chang-An: Today called Xi’an, capital of China through 13 dynasties. Yi Sha’s home town.
Shang Feipeng
VIOLIN VS CELLO
moon festival poetry recital
approaching
liaison tells me:
“when you bring your violin
maybe you could play a more joyful tune?
every time you play for us
you make us so sad.
it’s like you’re pulling those strings on a cello.”
I didn’t reply
I was thinking
my violin is an urn
my cello would be a coffin
(made up on mid-autumn moon festival day 2014 at the Xi’an Chang’an Poetry Festival recital)
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
再说中国新诗 300 首 （中英对照）
Lucas Klein, translator of Xi Chuan 西川, has commented on 野鬼’s new anthology of 300 Modern and Contemporary Chinese Poems (Chinese-English) 中国新诗 300 首 （中英对照）. Lucas Klein’s blog is called Notes on the Mosquito, like his new Xi Chuan translations compilation. Notes on the Mosquito as a title reminds me of Bei Dao’s 北岛 Harvest 收获, don’t know if that is intended.
There is Zhang Xinying’s 张新颖 fine anthology 中國新詩 from 2000 (in Chinese), incl. 2 interesting poems by Zhou Zuoren 周作人. Zhang has close to 100 poets and up to 10 poems from each of them. If you cover the last 30 or 40 years, it would have to be rather thick to include at least ten or twenty examples each from 食指、芒克、多多、楊煉、于堅、韓東、西川、伊沙等等，to mention only a few older living males.
My favorite contemporary anthology is 黃梁’s 大陸先鋒詩叢. 10 volumes came out in 1998/1999 – Bai Hua 柏华、Zhu Wen 朱文、Meng Lang 孟浪 etc. 等等. Another 10 came out in 2009, incl. Tibet’s poetess and dissident blogger Woeser 唯色, migrant worker poetess Zheng Xiaoqiong 郑小琼（鄭小瓊）, and a few more not-so-well-known poets like Pang Pei 庞培（born 1962).
The new 300-poems-anthology is Chinese-English, but it seems the English versions will all be done by Chinese translators. Some translators could be native speakers of English, and/or writing poetry in English. But it does look like an inner-Chinese project, so to speak. The Chinese Issue of The Drunken Boat from 2006 provides a very broad spectrum in the categories minorities, gender and localities in Asia and beyond. Xi Chuan is prominently featured. The 2008 China issue of The Atlantic Review also has an interesting mixture and beautiful poems, incl. Xi Chuan. But these two anthologies are all in English. In my earlier blog post on this topic of anthologies I have written about the advantages of starting from women writers and minorities. That was in Chinese, sorry.
Huang Liang is operating in Taiwan, but he still had some trouble with Mainland authorities about meeting and publishing Woeser 唯色. The 300 modern poems anthology includes the blind folk singer Zhou Yunpeng 周云蓬, who is also in the 10/19/12 New Statesman issue curated by Ai Weiwei, along with Zuoxiao Zuzhou 左小祖咒. On the other hand, compiler Diablo 野鬼 （Zhao Siyun 赵思云 is not the editor) told me they could never include Li Qin’an’s 李勤安 When Martial Law Was Lifted 解嚴以後, because with books you have to worry much more about (self-)censorship than online. I think When Martial Law Was Lifted 解嚴以後 is a landmark poem in any sense. I like Xi Chuan’s poetry very much, but on the whole now and then it needs to be complemented with something more explicitly political. Actually you could say the same about Hsia Yu 夏宇, maybe. Anyway, Li Qin’an 李勤安 still sounds relevant in Taiwan today, according to some of my friends there. On the Mainland, the role(s) of poetry are more acutely questioned, also by Zhao Siyun 赵思云 and Diablo 野鬼 (Zhang Zhi 张智), for example. See Diablo 野鬼’s “非诗” and Zhao Siyun’s Lili’s Story 丽丽传.
