“Take care. Goodbye.”The airline was cancelled. I was thinking as if the typhoon knew what I was hoping for: to delay his departure, as late as possible. I hate seeing people off because I hate goodbye. But now I always insist on seeing people off, because I have missed it once, and I don’t want…
Author: Huiwen Shi
The Pearl Collector #2: Follow Me!
He comes to visit me in Hong Kong, bringing with him two huge traveling bags. They are allfor me: winter clothes, books, and chocolates and even salted hams. I take him to Stanley. He takes pictures of me.He says he is tired and goes to bed early Follow Me! When dad got his driving license…
The Pearl Collector, Part 1: Tomorrow’s Soup
“What would you like to have for tomorrow’s soup?” Grandma would never get by a dinner without a pot of delicate soup. “Soup is the highlight of a meal. There is no decent dinner without soup!” She would spend a whole day preparing a soup that could live up to the title of “family food.”…
Dear Daughter,
I am having difficulty sleeping these days. And yes, it is to do with the murder of a local KOL (Key Opinion Leader), Abby Choi, who was killed and dismembered by her ex-husband and his family: a gruesome crime that made its way to international news. With my superpower of association and stretch of imagination,…
Becoming Two by Gabriel Wu
成雙 愛情做了夫妻就和魔術師分離麵包恢復麵包的模樣蜜糖開始告發蜜糖的有效期我們日常收拾小孩的日常小孩收拾我們的夢 總有吵得兇的時候黑得以為看不見明早的太陽把心一狠下輩子對你的愛先拿來這輩子用 文：吳耀宗 Becoming Two Once love makes us a coupleIts magic expiresBread regains bread’s castHoney rats out its own expiration dateRoutinely we pick up our children’s routineChildren pick up our dream Once in a while we fight so hardThe night so dark that I thought the sun did not riseSo I steel myself:My love for you in the…
On Writing a Thesis
寫論文 寫論文的時候我是個扮大人說話的小孩走投無路時就開始匹諾曹式的撒謊論文越長鼻子越大這謊也就更加難圓。 On Writing a Thesis Writing a thesis,I am a child talking adult talks.At my wit’s end,I started to lie like Pinocchio.The longer the thesis,the bigger my nose,the harder it is to square the circle. (Poem and translation both by Shi Huiwen.) Spread the love
Crossing Half of China to Sleep with You
穿過大半個中國去睡你 其實，睡你和被你睡是差不多的，無非是兩具肉體碰撞的力，無非是這力摧開的花朵無非是這花朵虛擬出的春天讓我們誤以為生命被重新打開大半個中國，什麼都在發生：火山在噴，河流在枯一些不被關心的政治犯和流民一路在槍口的麋鹿和丹頂鶴我是穿過槍林彈雨去睡你我是把無數的黑夜摁進一個黎明去睡你我是無數個我奔跑成一個我去睡你當然我也會被一些蝴蝶帶入歧途把一些讚美當成春天把一個和橫店類似的村莊當成故鄉而它們都是我去睡你必不可少的理由。 -余秀華 Crossing half of China to sleep with you In actual fact, there is no difference between me sleeping with youand you sleeping with me. It’s just the forceof two bodies colliding, just flowers forced open,just the illusion of springmaking us believe that life is re-blossoming.Things are happening across half of China:volcanoes erupting, rivers…
Lone-li-ness
寂寞 鄉下小孩子怕寂寞，枕頭邊養一只蟈蟈；長大了在城裡操勞，他買了一個夜明表。 小時候他常常羨豔墓草做蟈蟈的家園；如今他死了三小時，夜明表還不曾休止。 -卞之琳 Lone-li-ness The boy from the countryside dreaded loneliness,So he kept a grasshopper by the pillowcase;He grew up labouring in town,and bought a watch that shines all night long. As a child he’d always envied the grasshopperswho homed in the graveyard grass;Now the old boy is dead for three hours,The second-hand of…
Paterson
Author’s Note: I watched Jim Jarmusch’s “Paterson” again for my introduction to literature course, and it kind of set something echoing. A beautiful movie about exactly what I am trying to do: tiny attempts, words, poems. So I wrote this one: Paterson’s morning begins with a bowl of Cheerios and a boxful of Ohio Blue-tip matches….
Two Every-Night Poems
The Hair Hunt Every night, before bed,I hunt down the silver strands Right in the middle of my headWhere famous Freddy from the Causeway Bay salonMakes the stylish divide. They sneak out as a suicide squadOf five or sixmembers Proudly present themselvesAt the height ofTwo to four centimetres. Pure whitePurer than the snowOn Mount Everest….