Poem
Jiang Hao
PARTING WITH JING WENDONG, NOVEMBER 30TH
When you get out of the taxi, I notice your hairthinning slightly also. Your voice is unchanged.
Your handshake firm, like our last farewell.
You laugh easily, “You’ve gained weight!” Both of us
suddenly getting fat. We laugh again, at ease, as if
there’s nothing else worth laughing about.
As if I was taking you to a room where we used to chat.
You sniff around, time flashing by like sunlight. When I open the window
the same sunlight falls into the sea outside.
The sea remains unchanged. Even before you arrived,
I saw it quiet, still
no different from the water in this cup.
Maybe you’ve come to see it? You say No.
You insist that you came to see me.
But what’s so good about seeing me?
I imagine showing you around the island at leisure. But it’s
getting urbanized here too. Even a wasteland couldn't be saved.
We might as well stay indoors
till it’s time to part!
© Translation: 2013, Ming Di and Neil Aitken
十一月三十日与敬文东别后作
十一月三十日与敬文东别后作
你从出租车出来，我看见你的头发也略略疏了些。你的声音没变，
握手与别时一样有力。
你轻松地笑，“哦，胖了！”两个人
都突然胖了。更轻松地笑，仿佛
没有其他事值得我们去笑？
仿佛我领进的是从前交谈的房间？
你嗅着，时光像阳光。当我打开窗，
这阳光也掉进窗外的海里。
那海没有改变。在你来之前，
我就看见它的安静
与这杯中水没有不同。
也许你是来看它的？你说，
你坚持说是来看我的。
而我又有什么好看的呢？
我想像着领你在这岛上随意看看。
但这里也在繁荣，连荒芜都保不住了。
我们还是在屋里
呆到分手吧！
Poems
Poems of Jiang Hao
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PARTING WITH JING WENDONG, NOVEMBER 30TH
When you get out of the taxi, I notice your hairthinning slightly also. Your voice is unchanged.
Your handshake firm, like our last farewell.
You laugh easily, “You’ve gained weight!” Both of us
suddenly getting fat. We laugh again, at ease, as if
there’s nothing else worth laughing about.
As if I was taking you to a room where we used to chat.
You sniff around, time flashing by like sunlight. When I open the window
the same sunlight falls into the sea outside.
The sea remains unchanged. Even before you arrived,
I saw it quiet, still
no different from the water in this cup.
Maybe you’ve come to see it? You say No.
You insist that you came to see me.
But what’s so good about seeing me?
I imagine showing you around the island at leisure. But it’s
getting urbanized here too. Even a wasteland couldn't be saved.
We might as well stay indoors
till it’s time to part!
© 2013, Ming Di and Neil Aitken
PARTING WITH JING WENDONG, NOVEMBER 30TH
When you get out of the taxi, I notice your hairthinning slightly also. Your voice is unchanged.
Your handshake firm, like our last farewell.
You laugh easily, “You’ve gained weight!” Both of us
suddenly getting fat. We laugh again, at ease, as if
there’s nothing else worth laughing about.
As if I was taking you to a room where we used to chat.
You sniff around, time flashing by like sunlight. When I open the window
the same sunlight falls into the sea outside.
The sea remains unchanged. Even before you arrived,
I saw it quiet, still
no different from the water in this cup.
Maybe you’ve come to see it? You say No.
You insist that you came to see me.
But what’s so good about seeing me?
I imagine showing you around the island at leisure. But it’s
getting urbanized here too. Even a wasteland couldn't be saved.
We might as well stay indoors
till it’s time to part!
© 2013, Ming Di and Neil Aitken
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