Poem
Sheng Xing
fish doctor
one by one, they dieand all can I is scoop their dead little bodies out of the water
now, my fishtank is empty:
I have no choice but to sit by the fish tank in a daze
in all these years I have loved the beautiful gestures goldfish make
but learnt nothing of their diseases
in all these years I have never come across a fish doctor
a kind-hearted fish with a large head
with a medical kit round his neck marked with a red cross
but it is only out in the faraway ocean that he heals the wounded and rescues the dying
he cannot come to my fish tank
the illness they all die of is incurable
© Translation: 2002, Simon Patton
FISH DOCTOR
Poems
Poems of Sheng Xing
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fish doctor
one by one, they dieand all can I is scoop their dead little bodies out of the water
now, my fishtank is empty:
I have no choice but to sit by the fish tank in a daze
in all these years I have loved the beautiful gestures goldfish make
but learnt nothing of their diseases
in all these years I have never come across a fish doctor
a kind-hearted fish with a large head
with a medical kit round his neck marked with a red cross
but it is only out in the faraway ocean that he heals the wounded and rescues the dying
he cannot come to my fish tank
the illness they all die of is incurable
© 2002, Simon Patton
fish doctor
one by one, they dieand all can I is scoop their dead little bodies out of the water
now, my fishtank is empty:
I have no choice but to sit by the fish tank in a daze
in all these years I have loved the beautiful gestures goldfish make
but learnt nothing of their diseases
in all these years I have never come across a fish doctor
a kind-hearted fish with a large head
with a medical kit round his neck marked with a red cross
but it is only out in the faraway ocean that he heals the wounded and rescues the dying
he cannot come to my fish tank
the illness they all die of is incurable
© 2002, Simon Patton
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