Poem
Yu Jian
Flight (extract 2)
a god-given day utterly radiantthe sky ties on its blue apron like the mother of all Sundays
who sets out at daybreak for markets of dawn
in her basket fresh flowers bloom
southern valley-basin a read clam oozing mud-slime
the lakes too are azure fish swim in them
young women lift their breasts clear of the village in the direction of the hives
in forest clearings everything female is conceiving
a cicada full of tenderness sits outside the forest-keeper’s hut
how blessed I am to strike a day like this the sun up
one of all the world’s living creatures mine, too, is a life in the light
o God I know your secret
far from the great river I discuss new makes of car on a dark street
the air hurts us you are my blind spot for so many years now I’ve held myself apart from things
all I see are the wigs in the rows in front of me the plastic flowers representing some kind of southern flora
in the shadows of the mountains you turned into a bitch-wolf o Shanban lover of the jack-fruit of the South
that day I crossed the Shweli River a dark-skinned daughter of the tropics lay floating on its reddish waters
o bare-foot girl star-like beetles clung to your ragged skirt
and on your neck: the dust of palm trees
2000
© Translation: 2003, Simon Patton
FLIGHT (EXTRACT 2)
© 2000, Yu Jian
From: Yu Jian de shi
Publisher: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, Beijing
From: Yu Jian de shi
Publisher: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, Beijing
Poems
Poems of Yu Jian
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Flight (extract 2)
a god-given day utterly radiantthe sky ties on its blue apron like the mother of all Sundays
who sets out at daybreak for markets of dawn
in her basket fresh flowers bloom
southern valley-basin a read clam oozing mud-slime
the lakes too are azure fish swim in them
young women lift their breasts clear of the village in the direction of the hives
in forest clearings everything female is conceiving
a cicada full of tenderness sits outside the forest-keeper’s hut
how blessed I am to strike a day like this the sun up
one of all the world’s living creatures mine, too, is a life in the light
o God I know your secret
far from the great river I discuss new makes of car on a dark street
the air hurts us you are my blind spot for so many years now I’ve held myself apart from things
all I see are the wigs in the rows in front of me the plastic flowers representing some kind of southern flora
in the shadows of the mountains you turned into a bitch-wolf o Shanban lover of the jack-fruit of the South
that day I crossed the Shweli River a dark-skinned daughter of the tropics lay floating on its reddish waters
o bare-foot girl star-like beetles clung to your ragged skirt
and on your neck: the dust of palm trees
2000
© 2003, Simon Patton
From: Yu Jian de shi
From: Yu Jian de shi
Flight (extract 2)
a god-given day utterly radiantthe sky ties on its blue apron like the mother of all Sundays
who sets out at daybreak for markets of dawn
in her basket fresh flowers bloom
southern valley-basin a read clam oozing mud-slime
the lakes too are azure fish swim in them
young women lift their breasts clear of the village in the direction of the hives
in forest clearings everything female is conceiving
a cicada full of tenderness sits outside the forest-keeper’s hut
how blessed I am to strike a day like this the sun up
one of all the world’s living creatures mine, too, is a life in the light
o God I know your secret
far from the great river I discuss new makes of car on a dark street
the air hurts us you are my blind spot for so many years now I’ve held myself apart from things
all I see are the wigs in the rows in front of me the plastic flowers representing some kind of southern flora
in the shadows of the mountains you turned into a bitch-wolf o Shanban lover of the jack-fruit of the South
that day I crossed the Shweli River a dark-skinned daughter of the tropics lay floating on its reddish waters
o bare-foot girl star-like beetles clung to your ragged skirt
and on your neck: the dust of palm trees
2000
© 2003, Simon Patton
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