Roses
When people buy roses
they always think about the colour:
white, red, or yellow…
Because different people
like different colours. But
people don’t often mention the thorns
‘If you didn’t have thorns, you wouldn’t be
one thing or the other, all you’d be is
a freak.’ The question flashes through my mind –
If your thorns are your best part,
how can I know what they’ll feel like
if you don’t prick me
before I buy you?
About the translators
Austin Woerner is a Creative Fellow in Chinese-English literary translation at the University of Leeds.
Yu Xue'er and Zhu Qiaoyu are alumnae of the MA in Audiovisual Translation and Localisation course at University of Leeds.