Four Poems by Mu Cao
By Mu Cao 墓草, translated by Hongwei Bao
一个人发呆的时候
太多的想说的没有说的
文字打成一个小包
坐上飞机飞进垃圾桶
留下一页空白的纸
阳光照射不到
黑暗也抵达不到
空白的纸不去包面包
空白的纸不属任何人
这一页空白的纸
没有使用过错误的汉字
也拒绝回收
远离噪音
打印机
印钞机
(2018年8月26日）
trance
too many things left unsaid
words fold into themselves
make a paper aeroplane, fly it into a bin
only a blank page is left
no sun can shine through
no darkness can penetrate
has no utility, can’t even wrap a bread
it belongs to no one
the blank page
makes no mistakes
refuses recycling
stays away from all noises
away from a printer
from an intaglio press
(26 August 2018)
和明天无关的一天
我常使用的词语正在枯萎
下雨也没有用
裂缝里开出的最后一朵小白花
不为任何一滴眼泪
不为入侵的同情和怜悯
就这样突然一阵寒冷
毫无保留地死去
错别的疼痛
忍了再忍的悲伤
毫无保留地
把再次重复常使用的 ......
把自己融化在词语的灰烬里
(2015年8月31日)
a day without tomorrow
the words I use are drying up
even the rain doesn’t help
the last daisy blooms in the crack of the earth
not to shed tears
nor to gain pity or sympathy
cold air strikes
the flower dies, nothing is left
the pain of saying goodbye
the sadness that can no longer be held
I’ve got nothing left
i can only repeat used words …
and dissolve myself in the ashes of language
(31 August 2015)
天花板
一个人 躺在床上 放风筝
不需要风 风扇 空调不用开
葡萄 葡萄糖瓶 葡萄 葡萄藤 葡萄糖 瓶子飞上
空中
你看见了吗
你看见我的白色床单了吗
披上我的白色床单 就能和葡萄糖瓶子飞的一样高
（2011年6月27日）
ceiling
lying alone in bed flying a kite
no wind no electric fan no air-con
grape glucose bottle grape vine glucose bottle flying
in the air
have you seen me
have you seen my white sheets
put on my white sheets you can fly as high as the glucose bottle
(27 June 2011)
东方的墓园
你看见了西方的星星
还要苦苦寻找
在东方寻找一盏灯
你知道世界和母亲一直存在
还要放声哭泣
害怕着所有的英雄碑
他们把手从墓地里伸过来
狠狠地从壳内掰开你的灵魂
tombs in the east
now you’ve seen stars in the west
why are you still taking pains
to look for a lamp in the east
now you’ve known the world is there, mum will be with you
why are you still crying out loud
in fear of all the monuments for dead heroes
whose hands will reach out from their tombs
to tear your soul apart