Beltway Poetry Quarterly

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A Tree

For years,
I’ve been waiting here
I’ve been waiting
Right under this cloud
Right under this tree
I’m waiting for that tree on the hill
To run to me
To tell me something
I’m waiting for that dead tree
Carrying the whole world’s secrets
To say: You can only live better
After you’ve died
I’m afraid I can’t wait until I die

June 21, 2013
798 Art District, Beijing

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一棵树

许多年了，我
一直在这里等着
一直在这里等
就在一朵浮云下
就在这一棵树下
我在等山那边的那一棵树
向我跑来
向我说点儿什么
我在等那一棵死去的树
带着整个世界的秘密
说：只有死去之后
才能活得更好
我怕我等不到我死去的那一天了

 

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Green Hat

That woman climbed up the tree again
Water doesn’t always flow to the lowest point
How else would you explain water on the brain?

It’s the same with the question of fire
Someone splashed in years of sewage
Will finally catch fire

You can’t see the question of water and fire right now
Like you can’t see the desert growing every day,
And then only between love and friendship

We have to be green again
As green as Green Tara the bodhisattva
As green as the cover of my poetry collection

Life, from head to toe, should be green
Listen to me, don’t worry what other people say
Only dead trees don’t wear green hats

June 7, 2013
Yiqiehuan, Beijing

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绿帽子

那女人又爬到树上去了
事实上水并不总是往低处流
否则你如何解释脑子进水的人

火的问题也同样如此
被泼了多年污水的人
终于火起来了

水与火的问题暂且不表
如今沙漠正日益扩大
而且只在爱情与友谊之间

必须重新绿起来
必须像绿度母一样绿
必须像我的诗集封面一样绿

生命，从头到脚都必须是绿的
听我说一句，不要怕别人骂
只有死了的树才不戴绿帽子

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What the Dog Says, Goes

While tracing my family history, jade jangling at my waist,

I figured out why I love dogs so much.

There in our genealogy, in the thirteenth century, was a dog,
and dogs are pure, but aren’t art for art’s sake

Please don’t get me wrong. Sure, I’ve kept lots of secrets,
But I decided not to keep this one to myself
That dog guarding my home was loyal to my ancestors
Did my ancestors deserve it? Heh heh, whatever the dog says, goes

November 18, 2013
Johnson

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由狗说了算

追溯家谱时，玉佩叮咚，我找到
我爱狗的原因。靠谱的家谱
已经追溯到了十三世纪的一只狗
狗纯粹但决不为艺术而艺术

请别误会。的确，我曾经隐瞒了许多事
但这一点，我已不打算向任何读者隐瞒
看家护院，那是一只忠诚于我先祖的狗
我的先祖品德如何？呵呵，由狗说了算

2013.11.18. Johnson

Anne Henochowicz is the translations coordinator at China Digital Times and translations editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel. She has translated poets Meng Lang and Yu Xiuhua and longform essays by Tang Danhong. Her work has recently appeared in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing.

Yu Xinqiao is one of the most influential contemporary Chinese poets. His lines have been quoted in films, plastered on billboards, and set to music. Fame offered no protection, though, when he served eight years in prison for attempting to found a new political party in the communist party-state. His work appears in The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature and The Last Lyric, translated by Yunte Huang.