Poem
Song Xiaoxian
Child of Sorrow
the child of sorrow speaks unclearly, he can hardly bring himselfto talk of his own difficulties, he laughs a lot
he’s always biting on his lower lip, his riches
are as meagre as my kindnesses
one time, I turned out the collar
of his shirt for him, he blamed himself
perhaps, happiness is in the back pocket of his pants
anyhow, the money from his father
is enough to send him to school
his bike makes a creaking noise
and like the child of sorrow is always crying, he doesn’t have many clothes
every night, he shares an old desk with his ma
she does her marking, the child of sorrow learns his lessons
the 20-watt globe is just bright enough, just bright enough
homework done, the child of sorrow gets into his cot
he sleeps on a battered old sleeping mat
but the window is big enough, he can see the stars
the stars sparkle, never sleeping
great handfuls of them
just like toys in a dream—
has the child of sorrow had a glimpse of happiness then?
© Translation: 2005, Simon Patton
CHILD OF SORROW
© 2005, Song Xiaoxian
Poems
Poems of Song Xiaoxian
Close
Child of Sorrow
the child of sorrow speaks unclearly, he can hardly bring himselfto talk of his own difficulties, he laughs a lot
he’s always biting on his lower lip, his riches
are as meagre as my kindnesses
one time, I turned out the collar
of his shirt for him, he blamed himself
perhaps, happiness is in the back pocket of his pants
anyhow, the money from his father
is enough to send him to school
his bike makes a creaking noise
and like the child of sorrow is always crying, he doesn’t have many clothes
every night, he shares an old desk with his ma
she does her marking, the child of sorrow learns his lessons
the 20-watt globe is just bright enough, just bright enough
homework done, the child of sorrow gets into his cot
he sleeps on a battered old sleeping mat
but the window is big enough, he can see the stars
the stars sparkle, never sleeping
great handfuls of them
just like toys in a dream—
has the child of sorrow had a glimpse of happiness then?
© 2005, Simon Patton
Child of Sorrow
the child of sorrow speaks unclearly, he can hardly bring himselfto talk of his own difficulties, he laughs a lot
he’s always biting on his lower lip, his riches
are as meagre as my kindnesses
one time, I turned out the collar
of his shirt for him, he blamed himself
perhaps, happiness is in the back pocket of his pants
anyhow, the money from his father
is enough to send him to school
his bike makes a creaking noise
and like the child of sorrow is always crying, he doesn’t have many clothes
every night, he shares an old desk with his ma
she does her marking, the child of sorrow learns his lessons
the 20-watt globe is just bright enough, just bright enough
homework done, the child of sorrow gets into his cot
he sleeps on a battered old sleeping mat
but the window is big enough, he can see the stars
the stars sparkle, never sleeping
great handfuls of them
just like toys in a dream—
has the child of sorrow had a glimpse of happiness then?
© 2005, Simon Patton
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère