Poem
Bei Dao
TRAVEL DIARY
Before the fire-train enters the forestThe snowstorm in the fire-extinguisher falls asleep
You deign to listen to the past—
Construction sites lit up by lamps:
Hearts cut open in surgery
Someone dingdang hammers away forging iron
So feeble the heart-beat
Bridges jump into the air
Bring news’ most seamy angle
To tomorrow’s cities
Onward! Plunge into tomorrow
The child’s sick-flawed wording
And a star-sky’s braille
Waving high in the air youth’s white flag
They capture the year’s highland
At the terminus you become a father
Striding through open fields
Peaks have turned grey-white since yesterday
Roads turn face about
© Translation: 2009, Tao Naikan and Simon Patton
REISDAGBOEK
voordat de trein het woud in rijdtvalt de sneeuwstorm in de brandblusser in slaap
je luistert scherp naar het verleden –
bouwterrein in lamplicht:
hart geopend door scalpel
en iemand hamert galmt op ijzer
wat een zwakke hartslag
de brug springt een gat in de lucht
neemt de donkerste kant van het nieuws
mee voor de stad van morgen
voorwaarts! tot diep in de dag van morgen
taalkwaal van een kind
blindschrift van een sterrenhemel
zíj voeren het witte vaandel van de jeugd
en bezetten de hoogte van de jaren
bij het eindpunt word je vader
met grote passen door de velden
de bergtop is in één nacht grijs
en de weg keert zich om
© Vertaling: 2009, Maghiel van Crevel
TRAVEL DIARY
From: Jieju huo kaishi
Publisher: Changjiang, Wuhan
Publisher: Changjiang, Wuhan
Poems
Poems of Bei Dao
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TRAVEL DIARY
Before the fire-train enters the forestThe snowstorm in the fire-extinguisher falls asleep
You deign to listen to the past—
Construction sites lit up by lamps:
Hearts cut open in surgery
Someone dingdang hammers away forging iron
So feeble the heart-beat
Bridges jump into the air
Bring news’ most seamy angle
To tomorrow’s cities
Onward! Plunge into tomorrow
The child’s sick-flawed wording
And a star-sky’s braille
Waving high in the air youth’s white flag
They capture the year’s highland
At the terminus you become a father
Striding through open fields
Peaks have turned grey-white since yesterday
Roads turn face about
© 2009, Tao Naikan and Simon Patton
From: Jieju huo kaishi
From: Jieju huo kaishi
TRAVEL DIARY
Before the fire-train enters the forestThe snowstorm in the fire-extinguisher falls asleep
You deign to listen to the past—
Construction sites lit up by lamps:
Hearts cut open in surgery
Someone dingdang hammers away forging iron
So feeble the heart-beat
Bridges jump into the air
Bring news’ most seamy angle
To tomorrow’s cities
Onward! Plunge into tomorrow
The child’s sick-flawed wording
And a star-sky’s braille
Waving high in the air youth’s white flag
They capture the year’s highland
At the terminus you become a father
Striding through open fields
Peaks have turned grey-white since yesterday
Roads turn face about
© 2009, Tao Naikan and Simon Patton
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