Poem
Yi Sha
BOMBS AND POETRY
before I left the houseI told my son
that evening
I was going
to the Second Artillery Force College of Engineering
to talk to a group of students learning how to make missiles
about poetry
I told him: what you have to do
is behave yourself
and stay put
until your mother gets home
that evening
after I’d gone
my son must have been confused
he couldn’t figure out
how his father
who could only talk about poetry
had the right
to go and lecture
people who would one day be making missiles
missiles were so awesome
while poetry was stuff like
“Before my bed there is bright moonlight . . .”*
three hours later
when I got back
my wife was already home
my son was still not in bed
he asked me
if I had seen any missiles
no, I said, and added:
I had seen the money and that was fine
I handed him
an envelope given to me by a colonel
he counted the money in it
then said to me
next time, go and give a talk
to people making atom bombs
they’re sure to give you even more
© Translation: 2007, Simon Patton, Tao Naikan, Michael M. Day
* Yi Sha makes a reference here to a classical Tang-dynasty poem, Li Bai’s ‘Quiet Night Thoughts’ (Jing ye si). As Arthur Cooper notes in his Li Po and Tu Fu, ‘This must be the best known now of all Chinese poems . . .’. The quatrain goes on: ‘So that is seems like frost on the ground: / Lifting my head, I watch the bright moon, / Lowering my head, I dream that I’m home.’
GELEIDE RAKETTEN EN POËZIE
Voor ik de deur uit gingzei ik tegen mijn zoon
vanavond
moet papa
voor een groep studenten
die leren hoe je geleide raketten maakt
aan de ingenieursopleiding van de tweede artillerie-eenheid
een praatje gaan houden over poëzie
jij moet
netjes hier
thuis blijven
wachten tot mama terugkomt
Nadat ik die avond
van huis was gegaan
brak mijn zoon zich
het hoofd
over hoe het kon
dat zijn vader die alleen over poëzie kon praten
les moest gaan geven
aan mensen die later geleide raketten moesten maken
geleide raketten zijn supervet
en poëzie was enkel helder maanlicht voor het bed
Drie uur later
kwam ik thuis
mijn vrouw was er al
mijn zoon sliep nog niet
hij vroeg mij
of ik nog geleide raketten had gezien
nee zei ik
ik heb geld gezien zei ik
da’s wel genoeg
en ik overhandigde
mijn zoon de envelop
die een kolonel mij had gegeven
snel telde hij de biljetten
en zei toen tegen me
papa, ga de volgende keer
maar praten bij atoombommenmakers
die geven vast nog meer
© Vertaling: 2007, Silvia Marijnissen
Poems
Poems of Yi Sha
Close
BOMBS AND POETRY
before I left the houseI told my son
that evening
I was going
to the Second Artillery Force College of Engineering
to talk to a group of students learning how to make missiles
about poetry
I told him: what you have to do
is behave yourself
and stay put
until your mother gets home
that evening
after I’d gone
my son must have been confused
he couldn’t figure out
how his father
who could only talk about poetry
had the right
to go and lecture
people who would one day be making missiles
missiles were so awesome
while poetry was stuff like
“Before my bed there is bright moonlight . . .”*
three hours later
when I got back
my wife was already home
my son was still not in bed
he asked me
if I had seen any missiles
no, I said, and added:
I had seen the money and that was fine
I handed him
an envelope given to me by a colonel
he counted the money in it
then said to me
next time, go and give a talk
to people making atom bombs
they’re sure to give you even more
© 2007, Simon Patton, Tao Naikan, Michael M. Day
BOMBS AND POETRY
before I left the houseI told my son
that evening
I was going
to the Second Artillery Force College of Engineering
to talk to a group of students learning how to make missiles
about poetry
I told him: what you have to do
is behave yourself
and stay put
until your mother gets home
that evening
after I’d gone
my son must have been confused
he couldn’t figure out
how his father
who could only talk about poetry
had the right
to go and lecture
people who would one day be making missiles
missiles were so awesome
while poetry was stuff like
“Before my bed there is bright moonlight . . .”*
three hours later
when I got back
my wife was already home
my son was still not in bed
he asked me
if I had seen any missiles
no, I said, and added:
I had seen the money and that was fine
I handed him
an envelope given to me by a colonel
he counted the money in it
then said to me
next time, go and give a talk
to people making atom bombs
they’re sure to give you even more
© 2007, Simon Patton, Tao Naikan, Michael M. Day
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