《满足》

by Ya Shi

何曾满足?何曾放弃敌意?
何曾因爱而无缘无故颤栗?
长星照耀州府   野草堆积身躯
我在一个红色政权下找到未命名的我
他的贫乏   正如他的细腻
他在晚上睡不着觉   睡着了
又把猫头鹰的眼睛睁得大大的——
月影向西   盗贼酣睡在他的梦里!

Content

by Ya Shi

Have I ever been content? Have I ever renounced hostility?

Have I ever trembled in love without reason or cause?

An old star lights the provincial government     heaped bodies in the weeds

under a red regime I find a self as yet unnamed

he is precisely as incomplete              as he is exquisite

At night he can’t get to sleep            when he sleeps

he opens the eyes of the owl so wide —  

the moon’s shadow goes west           the thief has fallen asleep in his dream!

translated from Chinese by Nick Admussen
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