Yan Yongmin
WHEN DO I WANT A BOYFRIEND?
not when I’ve cooked too much food for myself
not when I’m alone at the movies
not when I cannot move heavy stuff
not when my mom asks me to get married
not when I go to the hospital all by myself
not when I hug myself and cannot sleep
when I put on or take off a dress
the zipper at the back gets stuck in the middle
I think it might be nice to have a boyfriend
zip me up in the morning
zip me out at night
Tr. MW, December 2016
Yan Yongmin
MILK DROPS
in the hospital garden
a milk box
lies in
a flower terrace
from the straw
milk keeps dripping
on the leaves
of climbing roses
Tr. MW, July 2016
Yan Yongmin
MILCHTROPFEN
im krankenhausgarten
liegt eine trinkpackung
milch
an der blumenterrasse
vom strohhalm
tropft es in die
rosenblätter
Übersetzt von MW im Juli 2016
Yan Yongmin
HEART-BROKEN GROUND MEAT FOR PASTA
she was talking again about her stuff
I was falling asleep
but when she said for the first time
“my heart is broken like ground meat for pasta”
I woke up that moment
to tell her she’d said something very interesting
but she cried even more
Tr. MW, April 2015
Yan Yongmin
WHAT TO EAT ON THE GREAT WALL
Tomorrow I’m going to Beijing to see the Great Wall!
I couldn’t wait to tell my colleagues.
You better bring something to eat!
On the Great Wall, things are not cheap.
I’ll bring steamed Mantou
and Xian Cai sauerkraut.
You really want to lose face
up on the Great Wall?
I was joking.
I’ll bring milk and bread.
Tr. MW, June 2014
