30 poems in 30 days

[ancianita]

Yu Xiuhua

I Crossed Half of China to Lay You 穿过大半个中国去睡你

In fact, to lay you or to get laid by you is the same, nothing but
The force of two bodies banging against each other, nothing but flowers
erupting from the force
Nothing but spring virtualized by the flowers making us believe that life has
been unfolded again
In half of China, everything is happening: Volcanos erupting, rivers drying up
Some political prisoners and homeless people whom nobody cares about
Elks and red-crowned cranes always being targeted at gunpoint
I have crossed gun forests and bullet showers to lay you
I have squeezed numerous nights into one dawn to lay you
I have run numerous selves into one to lay you
Naturally, I might be sidetracked by butterflies and
Regard praises as spring
Regard a village that resembles Heng Dian as my hometown
And all these
Are the necessary reasons why I am going lay you


Prayer


I pray for a poem to stop a tank
A poem full of tears stops more
I pray for a flower to withstand a bullet
A handful of carnations can comfort a mother

I pray for the sun to shine on everyone
Let some of them come out of the bomb shelter
to touch the spring
bruised
yet still trying to bloom

I pray that those farewells do not bear the grief of parting forever
But the joy of touching freedom
I pray that those children, O those children
Can go out into the street

I pray for peace!
I pray that the enemies with bayonets in their hands
Tell each other the names of their mothers
The names of their wives, the names of their children

I pray that every person who starts an unjust war
Cherish their own honor
Cherish the life of every soldier
Cherish the life of every civilian

I pray that on our already plagued earth
The sun illuminates every corner
There is nothing more evil than war
There is no aggression worse than war

I pray for peace!

(Translated by Ying Bao, 3/4/22)




More Yu Xiuhua
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2018/july/two-poems-yu-xiuhua
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/world/asia/china-poet-yu-xiuhua.html