Yu Yoyo Poems

Translated by Emily Goedde. Originally published in Pathlight Winter 2015

Blood Poisoning: A Letter

I see your father
still hasn’t
shuttled back
to reality
Tired tears crisscross
Cigarette butts, cigarette ash
are his only response

I also want to ask
your white blood cells
why the sudden increase
why the enlarged lymph nodes
the fluid in your organs why
this swelling in your face and feet
is this you still you
This me
doesn’t dare breathe deep
dreading this deadlocked image
before me
will suddenly snap
and no one
can pull you back

Can you
come back a little faster
no one will be mad that you
took a short trip to distant parts
I can keep you company
play games we never played as kids
So come back
Take off your mask
We’ll act as if nothing ever happened

《败血书》

我看见你的父亲
至今都未
穿梭回现实
老泪纵横
烟蒂和烟灰
是他给予
的唯一回应

我也想问
你的白细胞
怎么突然那么多
淋巴怎么就鼓起来了
内脏怎么积水了
脸和脚怎么肿成那样
这样的你还是你吗
这样的我
竟不敢深呼吸
生怕现在僵持的画面
很快被打破
那时谁也把你
拉不回来

你可不可以
快点回来
谁都不会责怪你
出了一趟远门
我可以陪你
玩童年没玩过的游戏
回来吧
取下口罩
我们就当什么也没发生

Open Earth

In the New Year
Older Cousin’s marriage ended
He committed suicide by poison
When the year was scarcely half over
Junior High Head Teacher
had a cerebral hemorrhage
and passed away
Back home in July
Nephew has leukemia
so was admitted to the hospital
I mourn
From the balcony, look down
The lot is full of every kind of quality car
There isn’t a single plot
of open earth
that could allow
a person
from a high place to fall

《空地》

年初
婚变的堂哥
服毒自杀
今年刚过一半
初中班主任
脑溢血
去世
七月回家
侄儿因白血病
住进医院
我悲戚
从阳台向下看
停满了各种好车
竟没有一块
空地
可以允许
一个人
从高处坠落

Mother’s Tin Can

He lies on the sea
and with a tin can for a pillow
sweetly sleeps
Mother’s nutrients
seem packed in the can
He traverses
the Indian and Pacific oceans
covering his entire body
with the sheen of sea water
whenever he pries open the can
he thinks of
mother laid off at home
living in a small city in Sichuan
who has never seen the sea

《母亲的罐头》

他躺在海上
枕着罐头
酣睡
母亲的营养
仿佛装在铁罐里
他来往于
印度洋与太平洋之间
全身遍布
海水的光泽
每当撬开罐头
他都想起
下岗在家的母亲
居住在四川一座小城
从未见过大海

Food Processing Plant

O, love
after breakfast let’s have a passionate moment
those sick cows and sheep
are on the slaughtering line
preparing for us to dine

After dusk
we stretch out on the sofa
drink some toxic milk
cherish this life of creature comforts
Don’t forget
to take a few antibiotics
Don’t forget
to hold my hand whenever we eat

《食品加工厂》

哦，亲爱的
吃过早餐我们就去热恋一场
那些生病的牛羊
正在机器流水线上
为我们准备晚餐

黄昏以后
我们就躺在沙发上
喝杯带毒的牛奶
怀念这丰衣足食的生活
别忘了
服下几枚抗生素
别忘了
每次用餐都牵着我的手

Headache Rule

Now the sound of rain
carries a tone of dense sobs
I lean back on the bench

and look at the
woman with her womb scraped thin
who also can’t sit straight
Nothing is said
I can feel
her anguish from the pointed tool’s touch
but nails remain in her eyes
aimed from time to time
at women and men in the heat of love

I just took
something for headaches
mefenamic acid tabs
The weather changes
Side effects take hold
choking my throat
The reassembled skull
reveals from time to time
a different kind
of cavern
I and she both
had the scalpel scrape away a piece of flesh
What I scraped out was poison
while she was scraping away love

《头痛法则》

此时的雨声
带有浓重的哭腔
我斜在凳子上
看那个
子宫被刮得很薄的女人
一样坐姿不良
什么也不说
我能体会
她与利器接触过的痛楚
只是眼中还有钉子
时不时的对准
那些热恋中的男女

我刚服下
治疗头痛的
甲芬那酸分散片
天气转变
后遗症掐着我
的脖子不放
重新装回去的头盖骨
偶尔会揭露
一种别样
的空洞
我与她曾经
都被手术刀切去过一块肉
我切掉的是毒
而她切掉的是爱