Poem
Mo Mo
THE ZOO
I find a directory of paradiseand following the address compiled in the language of cannibals
I find a heavily-guarded zoo
Calling me, a leopard moans
“The cat burgled my food”
I caress the beast’s fur
Pointing at the faraway morning star
the beast murmurs, “Don’t provoke the goat
His horns are stilettos”
A sleepless golden fish misses the shark who covets her
Furious, the golden oriole
wants to duel the ants that molested her
I squat next to the hippo’s yawn
thinking of man’s belly tastes
Sticking out his chest, the praying mantis says from on high,
“I’ll fight those humans to the end”
The panda heaves a deep sigh, “Aaa!
I’ve fought revolutionary struggle for tens of thousands of years,
but my fur remains unchanged”
The tiger spots a typo in the Bible
and swears that Heaven is Hell
The hedgehog disagrees and says, “The clouds would like to wear silver”
I stop a pig couple sweetly in love
and tell them the ballet theater has been torn to ruins
The gander kills itself, its blood tainting the swan lake
When her periods dry up, the mosquito will turn in panic to any doctor,
and flagrantly flirts with the elephant
and eats corn on the cob, while the fox,
twisting around with a mysterious look, says
“Did you know
I was the beauty queen Wang Zhaojun in my last life?”
The duck, a veteran informer,
earnestly reports, “The ostrich is an arms dealer
who lays nothing but A-bombs, getting countless orders”
The penumbra of the east proclaims, “Dawn”
I eventually realize that
the ostrich has become the ruler of paradise
who with tightly-closed eyes shakes out feathers
and won’t answer any of my questions
but sheds a plan for the Third World War
written in the language of birds in the sky
© Translation: 2019, Tony Barnstone, Wang Hao and Du Xian
动物园
动物园
我捡到一本天堂的通讯簿沿着食人族语编写的地址
我找到一座戒备森严的动物园
唤我一声，豹子轻啼
他说猫抢走了他的食物
我抚摩豺狼的毛背
指着远方的启明星
豺狼细声说，别惹羊
他的羊角就像匕首
金鱼失眠，思恋着觊觎它的鲨鱼
黄鹂怒火冲天
要找调戏它的蚂蚁拼命
我蹲在河马的嘴边
想着人类的胃口
挺起胸膛，螳螂站得高高地说：
我要与人类战斗到底
熊猫长叹：唉
我革命了几万年，仍然是这身皮毛
老虎发现《圣经》里的一个错别字
向我起誓说：天堂就是地狱
刺猬反对，说，云想衣裳
我拦住一对情意绵绵的猪侣
告诉它们，芭蕾剧场已成废墟
呆头鹅自杀，血染天鹅湖
母蚊子闭经，病急乱投医
竟对大象挤眉弄眼
啃着玉米，狐狸沐浴
它四下张望，满脸神秘
它说，知道吗
前世我是王昭君
鸭子仍然喜欢告密
它急切地告发说，鸵鸟是军火商
下的全是原子弹，订单还不少哩
东方微白，黎明将至
我终于明白
天堂的统治者换成了鸵鸟
紧闭悲悯的双目，抖抖羽毛
拒绝回答我所有的问题
它抖出一份第三次世界大战计划
用天上鸟语书写
Poems
Poems of Mo Mo
Close
THE ZOO
I find a directory of paradiseand following the address compiled in the language of cannibals
I find a heavily-guarded zoo
Calling me, a leopard moans
“The cat burgled my food”
I caress the beast’s fur
Pointing at the faraway morning star
the beast murmurs, “Don’t provoke the goat
His horns are stilettos”
A sleepless golden fish misses the shark who covets her
Furious, the golden oriole
wants to duel the ants that molested her
I squat next to the hippo’s yawn
thinking of man’s belly tastes
Sticking out his chest, the praying mantis says from on high,
“I’ll fight those humans to the end”
The panda heaves a deep sigh, “Aaa!
I’ve fought revolutionary struggle for tens of thousands of years,
but my fur remains unchanged”
The tiger spots a typo in the Bible
and swears that Heaven is Hell
The hedgehog disagrees and says, “The clouds would like to wear silver”
I stop a pig couple sweetly in love
and tell them the ballet theater has been torn to ruins
The gander kills itself, its blood tainting the swan lake
When her periods dry up, the mosquito will turn in panic to any doctor,
and flagrantly flirts with the elephant
and eats corn on the cob, while the fox,
twisting around with a mysterious look, says
“Did you know
I was the beauty queen Wang Zhaojun in my last life?”
The duck, a veteran informer,
earnestly reports, “The ostrich is an arms dealer
who lays nothing but A-bombs, getting countless orders”
The penumbra of the east proclaims, “Dawn”
I eventually realize that
the ostrich has become the ruler of paradise
who with tightly-closed eyes shakes out feathers
and won’t answer any of my questions
but sheds a plan for the Third World War
written in the language of birds in the sky
© 2019, Tony Barnstone, Wang Hao and Du Xian
THE ZOO
I find a directory of paradiseand following the address compiled in the language of cannibals
I find a heavily-guarded zoo
Calling me, a leopard moans
“The cat burgled my food”
I caress the beast’s fur
Pointing at the faraway morning star
the beast murmurs, “Don’t provoke the goat
His horns are stilettos”
A sleepless golden fish misses the shark who covets her
Furious, the golden oriole
wants to duel the ants that molested her
I squat next to the hippo’s yawn
thinking of man’s belly tastes
Sticking out his chest, the praying mantis says from on high,
“I’ll fight those humans to the end”
The panda heaves a deep sigh, “Aaa!
I’ve fought revolutionary struggle for tens of thousands of years,
but my fur remains unchanged”
The tiger spots a typo in the Bible
and swears that Heaven is Hell
The hedgehog disagrees and says, “The clouds would like to wear silver”
I stop a pig couple sweetly in love
and tell them the ballet theater has been torn to ruins
The gander kills itself, its blood tainting the swan lake
When her periods dry up, the mosquito will turn in panic to any doctor,
and flagrantly flirts with the elephant
and eats corn on the cob, while the fox,
twisting around with a mysterious look, says
“Did you know
I was the beauty queen Wang Zhaojun in my last life?”
The duck, a veteran informer,
earnestly reports, “The ostrich is an arms dealer
who lays nothing but A-bombs, getting countless orders”
The penumbra of the east proclaims, “Dawn”
I eventually realize that
the ostrich has become the ruler of paradise
who with tightly-closed eyes shakes out feathers
and won’t answer any of my questions
but sheds a plan for the Third World War
written in the language of birds in the sky
© 2019, Tony Barnstone, Wang Hao and Du Xian
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