Ao Wang 
Translator

on Lyrikline: 3 poems translated

from: chinese to: english

Original

Translation

8月19日

chinese | YAN Jun

烧饼烧着了  我停在火上
白云蒸腾  夏天已经过去一半

我停在火里  看蚂蚁散步
一个女人 来自西方
看着我发呆  她不爱任何人

我停在火烧完的地方
像一块静止的抹布

我吃掉了整个厨房
包括火  这让我难受

© YAN Jun
Audio production: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin, 2012

August 19th

english

The sesame cakes are burning       I pause on top of the fire
white clouds steam up       half the summer has already passed

I pause in the fire       watching the ants stroll by
A woman       from the West
stares at me       she loves no one

I pause where the fire has burnt out
like a motionless rag

I eat the entire kitchen
including the fire       it makes me uneasy

© translated by Ao Wang and Eleanor Goodman
first published on Poetry International Web 2011

4月1日,晴,有风。午饭吃了烧饼和沙拉

chinese | YAN Jun

我们变成我们吃的东西
变成羊,桃子,鸡爪子,有时候是辣椒

我们同时吃,有时候不吃
我们在早晨吃夜晚,在南方吃指南针

吃眼泪,吃掉一个国家,吃不完就放进冰箱
有时候吃人,有的人反对

我们发现了药,有时候是毒药
我们激动,有时候一动不动,像吃了乌龟

我们相爱,成为对方的一部分
我们成为政治,成为化学,我们不在乎

我们会死,变成时间本身
一粒米,两粒米,我们在蒸汽中忘记

© YAN Jun
Audio production: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin, 2012

April 1st, sunny and windy; we ate sesame cakes and salad for lunch

english

We turned into whatever we ate
turned into sheep       peaches chicken’s feet       sometimes hot peppers

We ate at the same time       sometimes we didn’t eat
In the morning we ate the night       in the south we ate compasses

Ate tears       ate up a country       putting the leftovers in the fridge
sometimes we ate people       some people objected

We discovered medicine       sometimes it was poison
we got excited       sometimes we didn’t move       as if we’d eaten turtles

We fell in love       becoming part of each other
We turned into politics       turned into chemistry       we didn’t care

We will die       becoming part of time itself
one grain of rice       two grains of rice       in the midst of the steam we forget

© translated by Ao Wang and Eleanor Goodman
first published on Poetry International Web 2011

6月28日

chinese | YAN Jun

她们都飞走了  离开了现代城
经过西单  塘沽  经过了柏林和科隆
路上下过雨  发生过禽流感  桃花落了
股市温柔地熄灭  婴儿降生了

但是她们都飞走了  在河南  台北
在开普敦中心车站  卖茶的人坐电梯
傍晚  终于变成了黑夜

她们关闭了燕莎  关闭了工体
她们为了爱情  炸毁了奥林匹克公园

但是为了失眠的心  但是卢森堡公园

但是蝴蝶在大屿湾飞  经过了天坛

但是蜜蜂  大麻  直升飞机带走了她们
整个乌鲁木齐变成了公园

终于变成了黑夜  她们叹息
她们变成了她  她们爱她  她们飞向
下一个梦

© YAN Jun
Audio production: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin, 2012

June 28th

english

They’ve all flown away       left the Modern Plaza
passing Xidan       Tanggu       passing Berlin and Cologne
It rained on the way the bird flu happened       peach blossoms fell
The stock market gently collapsed       a baby was incarnated

But they’ve all flown away       in Henan       Taipei
In the central station of Cape Town       a tea-peddler takes the elevator
At twilight       it finally gets dark

They closed Yansha       closed the Beijing Worker’s Stadium
For the sake of love they       blew up the Olympic Park

But for the sake of an insomniac heart       but the Luxembourg Gardens

But butterflies fly over Lantau Island       passing the Temple of Heaven

But honeybees       marijuana       a helicopter took them away
all of Wulumuqi has become a park

It’s finally night       they are sighing
They have become her       they love her       they fly toward
the next dream

© translated by Ao Wang and Eleanor Goodman
first published on Poetry International Web 2011