Poem
Liu Waitong
REGISTER OF GHOSTS: HAI ZI
I died before death, the floodseparated me early, the train
only passed over my bloodstains, only took
my starvation, pushed towards a glorious lake.
Today I am that person planting fantasies on the lake,
I am drawing the rails one by one into the wildflowers on the lake,
that person. Life is all around me
like the mountain goat with its face buried in the wildflowers.
The water slowly floods from Shanhaiguan to Longjiaying,
that was just after midnight. Oh, black night
forgive the lack of subtly of my song,
forgive the clothes on this body, bluer even than dawn.
Today I hear only the tranquility of gunshots seventy days later,
I see only the purity before the graffiti of the next twenty years.
Those people who carry my death around wherever they go,
they are dragonflies.
The green grass on the road is dry to the tip! Red rust
blends into the soil! In both hands a pile of characters:
a pile of synonyms for ‘survival,’
in the gentle cold of dawn I burned paper clothing.
The water slowly floods from Muxudi to Xizhimen,
that was three in the morning. Oh, black night
forgive the lack of sadness in my song,
forgive the clothes on this body, more valuable even than dawn.
© Translation: 2013, Venus Lau & Robin Peckham
[1] Line 9: Hai Zi committed suicide along this stretch of railway near Qinhuangdao in Hebei province, near where the Great Wall meets the ocean.
[2] Line 13: A reference to the June Fourth massacre in Tian’anmen Square.
[3] Line 21: An obtuse reference to the motion of troops through Beijing during June Fourth, replacing Muxidi, the site of the earliest real violence, with Muxudi, a “field of clovers,” and Xizhimen with different characters.
GEESTENREGISTER: HAI ZI
Ik stierf voor de dood, een overstromingscheidde mij voortijdig, de trein
passeerde alleen mijn bloedsporen, nam alleen
mijn honger mee, voortduwend naar een schitterend meer.
Vandaag ben ik degene die fantasieën tekent op het meer
ook ben ik het die de rails een voor een door de wilde bloemen
op het water sleept. Mijn blik bruist van het leven,
als een geit die zijn kop in de wilde bloemen steekt.
Het vloedwater stroomt langzaam van Shanhaiguan naar Longjiaying,
het was toen een uur ’s nachts. O zwarte nacht
vergeef me dat mijn gedicht helemaal niet duister is,
vergeef me dat mijn kleren blauwer zijn dan de dageraad.
Vandaag hoor ik alleen maar stilte na zeventig dagen schietgeluiden,
ik zie alleen maar reinheid na twintig jaar graffiti,
mensen die mijn dood overal meenemen,
zij zijn libellen.
Groen gras op straat is helemaal verdord! Roest
is vermengd met aarde! In mijn handen draag ik een stapel Chinese tekens:
een stapel synoniemen voor ‘overleven’
in de koele dageraad verbrand ik kleding van papier.
Het vloedwater stroomt langzaam van Muxudi naar Xizhimen,
het was toen drie uur ’s nachts. O zwarte nacht
vergeef me dat mijn gedicht helemaal niet treurig is
vergeef me dat mijn kleren kostbaarder zijn dan de dageraad.
© Vertaling: 2013, Audrey Heijns
錄鬼簿.海子
我死於死亡之前,洪水提前分開了我,列車
只經過我的血跡,只帶走
我的饑餓,推向燦爛的湖面。
如今我就是大湖上栽種幻像的那人,
我就是把鐵軌一一引入水面的野花中
的那人。我滿目都是生命
像把臉埋入野花中的山羊。
洪水從山海關流漫到龍家營,
那是子夜一點。哦,黑夜
請原諒我的詩一點也不晦澀,
請原諒這身衣服,比黎明更藍。
如今我聽見七十天后的槍聲只是寂靜,
我看見二十年後的塗鴉只是潔淨。
那些攜帶我的死亡到處行走的人
他們是一隊蜻蜓。
那路上的青草盡枯!紅鏽
混入了泥土!我手捧一堆漢字:
一堆「生存」的同義詞,
在黎明的微寒中燒掉了紙做的衣服。
洪水從苜蓿地流漫到汐止門,
那是淩晨三點。哦,黑夜
請原諒我的詩一點也不悲傷,
請原諒這身衣服,比黎明更貴重。
© 2011, Liu Waitong
From: Yeman Yege《野蛮夜歌》(Barbaric Night Song)
Publisher: Jincheng, Beijing
From: Yeman Yege《野蛮夜歌》(Barbaric Night Song)
Publisher: Jincheng, Beijing
Poems
Poems of Liu Waitong
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REGISTER OF GHOSTS: HAI ZI
I died before death, the floodseparated me early, the train
only passed over my bloodstains, only took
my starvation, pushed towards a glorious lake.
Today I am that person planting fantasies on the lake,
I am drawing the rails one by one into the wildflowers on the lake,
that person. Life is all around me
like the mountain goat with its face buried in the wildflowers.
The water slowly floods from Shanhaiguan to Longjiaying,
that was just after midnight. Oh, black night
forgive the lack of subtly of my song,
forgive the clothes on this body, bluer even than dawn.
Today I hear only the tranquility of gunshots seventy days later,
I see only the purity before the graffiti of the next twenty years.
Those people who carry my death around wherever they go,
they are dragonflies.
The green grass on the road is dry to the tip! Red rust
blends into the soil! In both hands a pile of characters:
a pile of synonyms for ‘survival,’
in the gentle cold of dawn I burned paper clothing.
The water slowly floods from Muxudi to Xizhimen,
that was three in the morning. Oh, black night
forgive the lack of sadness in my song,
forgive the clothes on this body, more valuable even than dawn.
© 2013, Venus Lau & Robin Peckham
From: Yeman Yege《野蛮夜歌》(Barbaric Night Song)
From: Yeman Yege《野蛮夜歌》(Barbaric Night Song)
REGISTER OF GHOSTS: HAI ZI
I died before death, the floodseparated me early, the train
only passed over my bloodstains, only took
my starvation, pushed towards a glorious lake.
Today I am that person planting fantasies on the lake,
I am drawing the rails one by one into the wildflowers on the lake,
that person. Life is all around me
like the mountain goat with its face buried in the wildflowers.
The water slowly floods from Shanhaiguan to Longjiaying,
that was just after midnight. Oh, black night
forgive the lack of subtly of my song,
forgive the clothes on this body, bluer even than dawn.
Today I hear only the tranquility of gunshots seventy days later,
I see only the purity before the graffiti of the next twenty years.
Those people who carry my death around wherever they go,
they are dragonflies.
The green grass on the road is dry to the tip! Red rust
blends into the soil! In both hands a pile of characters:
a pile of synonyms for ‘survival,’
in the gentle cold of dawn I burned paper clothing.
The water slowly floods from Muxudi to Xizhimen,
that was three in the morning. Oh, black night
forgive the lack of sadness in my song,
forgive the clothes on this body, more valuable even than dawn.
© 2013, Venus Lau & Robin Peckham
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