布拉格 / Prague

Chinese

一群乡下蛾子在攻打城市 / 街灯,幽灵的脸 / 细长的腿支撑着夜空
有了幽灵,有了历史 / 地图上未标明的地下矿脉 / 是布拉格粗大的神经
卡夫卡的童年穿过广场 / 梦在逃学,梦 / 是坐在云端的严历的父亲
有了父亲,有了继承权 / 一只耗子在皇宫的走廊漫步 / 影子的侍从前簇后拥
从世纪大门出发的轻便马车 / 途中变成了坦克 / 真理在选择它的敌人
有了真理,有了遗忘 / 醉汉如雄性蕊在风中摇晃 / 抖落了尘土的咒语
越过伏儿塔瓦河上时间的 / 桥,进入耀眼的白天 / 古老的雕像们充满敌意
有了敌意,有了荣耀 / 小贩神秘地摊开一块丝绒 / 请买珍珠聚集的好天气

English Translation

Swarming country moths assault the city
street lamps, spectral faces
long, slender legs holding up the night sky

There are specters, there is history
unmarked on the map a subterranean vein
is the thick nerve of Prague

Kafka’s youth passed through the square
dreams are cutting class, dreams
are the stern father sitting in the clouds

There is a father, there are rights of inheritance
a rat is wandering the palace halls
attendants in the shadows a bustling entourage

A carriage setting out from the century’s gate
turns into a tank midway
truth is selecting its enemies

There is truth, there is forgetting
a drunk quivering like a stamen in the breeze
shaking off the curse of dust

Traversing the bridge of time over the Vltava
River, entering the daylit glare
the ancient statues are full of enmity

There is enmity, there is splendor
a vendor mysteriously unfolds a swatch of velvet
please purchase this fine weather gathered by pearls.

FORTHCOMING IN BEI DAO'S NEW BOOK
Endure (Black Widow Press, 2011)

Printed from Cerise Press: http://www.cerisepress.com

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