Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

He Xiaozhu

Ann Dreaming of Apples and Fish

I have never said
that in big houses there were definitely mushrooms of death
You endlessly dream of apples and fish
In this kind of big house
You make me scared

You’ve never been to
that dark forest I once wrote behind the house
You are always in that reoccurring dreamscape
You always say
that it seems real

We won’t stay long
I want to put locks on all the doors
Lock the fish’s mouth with straw
until the morning comes
In that rainy season will you still
cover your head with a blanket
and listen closely to the house’s
putrid sounds?

ANN DREAMING OF APPLES AND FISH

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Ann Dreaming of Apples and Fish

I have never said
that in big houses there were definitely mushrooms of death
You endlessly dream of apples and fish
In this kind of big house
You make me scared

You’ve never been to
that dark forest I once wrote behind the house
You are always in that reoccurring dreamscape
You always say
that it seems real

We won’t stay long
I want to put locks on all the doors
Lock the fish’s mouth with straw
until the morning comes
In that rainy season will you still
cover your head with a blanket
and listen closely to the house’s
putrid sounds?

Ann Dreaming of Apples and Fish

I have never said
that in big houses there were definitely mushrooms of death
You endlessly dream of apples and fish
In this kind of big house
You make me scared

You’ve never been to
that dark forest I once wrote behind the house
You are always in that reoccurring dreamscape
You always say
that it seems real

We won’t stay long
I want to put locks on all the doors
Lock the fish’s mouth with straw
until the morning comes
In that rainy season will you still
cover your head with a blanket
and listen closely to the house’s
putrid sounds?
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