Sunday, March 15, 2009

Poetry by Ma Lan: Events 事件

Event I

Without even a cat’s meow,
Spring has begun.

For example, the harsh Beijing dust storms.
Plastic bags on the street are stuffed into winds.
As outsiders we do not understand the source of this power.

We cannot see the sky, only each other
And the whirling bags, we imagine as
Life’s joys that ride the dust, grow distant, taken by the wind.

There is a poetry-theme party at the karaoke bar.
I bought a rose--
One rose equals a hundred.
We sit and listen to Hu Ma-ge sing:
“How could I have feelings?”

Still, no cat meows this spring,
No yowling, though the red apricot has grown beyond the wall*.

Event II

A fish that eluded the net has been following me.
I don’t know what that means.
Maybe she was strewn by the flow of time.
Time comes from behind, pushes my eyes out their sockets.
They drop into my hands, dash about nonstop.

Illness has always followed me.
I don’t know what that means, either.
Do I have to visit hospitals forever with the hope one day I’ll be cured?
From the painkiller the doctor begins.

There is also a butterfly taking medicine that wraps around me.
I run into the day, my head lowered,
And feel the light and dark, months and years, melt into my hair.
A straw hat floats down the river,
Which is the dream of my childhood,
Dancing with dust until sunset.

Event III

I am close to you,
As distant as my palm to the back of the hand.
I miss you so much,
Even perfume can injure, now.

A bird
Falls on my left shoulder,
My right wing loses its balance.
Where can I sleep tonight?

This winter
Wants to fly farther than a bird.
My love, I’m so sick I cannot rise.

I thrust myself out of the world--
That is a possibility.
To imitate vanishing, I disappear my hands.
My love, the snow continues to fall,
Tell me how to face the floods.
This winter
A bird falls on my right shoulder.

I can accept, or reject

Event IV

I walk toward you minding my pings and zes*.
As I stride with my left foot and extend my right, they cross.

You planted a tree on my back.
That is a snake. It forgot precisely how to molt.
Sinking boats since childhood--
I unlock the door and enter: I have molted into a pile of clothes,
Which hangs on the floor.

We open the door from inside,
Wash our tools one by one.
We need five minutes, then must sleep
Heedless of the cycle of seasons.

That day I used up my life
And was not able to put on my clothes again.

December 2000-March 2001

Notes

Event I
1. A common image in old Chinese romantic literature signifying pre-marital or extra-marital liaisons.

Event IV
1. Literarily "ping"s and "ze"s refer to the strict prosodic requirements of traditional Chinese poetry whereby the words chosen for a given line have to constitute a sequence of tones that correspond to a standard pattern.

事件

事件(一)

没有听见一声猫叫
春天就开始了

比如,北京的风沙很大
满街的塑料袋全盘钻进了风中
我们外地人不懂这力量从何而来

我们看不见天,只能对视
或者看塑料袋,想象那无非是
一生的幸福在风沙之上,渐行渐远

一个以诗歌为名的聚会在酒吧
我们买了一朵玫瑰
一朵玫瑰等于一百朵玫瑰
我们坐着,听胡吗个唱
“我怎么会有感情呢?”

仍然没有听见猫叫,在春天
红杏却要出墙

事件(二)

一只漏网的鱼跟踪着我
我不知道是什么意思
可能她被时间冲散
时间从背后而来,把眼晴推出眼眶
落在手心,奔忙不停

疾病一直跟踪我
我也不知道是什么意思
难道只能走向医院,抱着治愈的希望
从麻醉开始

还有一只服药的蝴蝶包裹我
我就跑进白天,低头
感受光阴滑入头发
一顶草帽浮在河里
这是儿时全部的梦想
随灰尘而舞,直到天黑


事件(三)

我离你很近
手心和手背的距离
我这么想念着你
香气都能伤人,这时

一只鸟
落在我的左肩
我的右翼从此失去平衡
今晚还能睡在哪里?

这个冬天
想比鸟飞得更远
我的爱人,这让我一病不起

我把自己推到世界之外
这是一种可能性
我模仿消亡,以自己之手
我的爱人,雪继续下着
叫我如何面对洪水
这个冬天
鸟又落在我的右肩

我要么接受,要么拒绝


事件(四)

我面向你走,保持平仄
迈了左脚再出右脚,交叉而行
你种了一棵树在我的后背
那是蛇,遗忘了脱皮的细节
还有沉船,从童年
开门而入,看见我变成一堆衣服
挂在地上

我们把门从里面打开
一件又一件地清洗工具
需要五分钟,然后睡觉
无所谓四季轮转
那天用完了我的一生
也没能把衣服重新穿上

(2000,12-2001,3)

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