A Cup

before I lose my grip
and break this cup
I have a hunch that
it will be broken
as I see it drop from the table
to the floor, its rim
wide open
as if about to say something
I think it also has
a sinking feeling

《杯子》

朱剑

在失手打碎
这只杯子之前
我似乎预感到了
它会被打碎
看着它从桌上
坠落到地面
杯口张开的样子
仿佛有话要说
我觉得它
也有预感

Going Home

The balcony across from mine
Is hung with strings of cured meat

A person
Is sitting amid clusters of meat

Reading

《回家》

朱剑

对面阳台
挂满腊肉

一个人
坐在肉丛中

读书

Nanking Massacre *

the wall
is thickly dotted with
thousands of names
of the victims

I take one glance
just one glance at it
before I decide to leave
without turning back

for I see
a friend’s name on it
of course I know
it’s a duplicate name

I almost feel certain
a second look
will show me
my own name

* The title, Nanking Massacre, bluntly names the mass slaughter and rape of residents of Nanjing, the then capital of China under Chiang Kai-shek situated in the River Yangtze delta, by Japanese troops over six weeks from mid-December 1937 to late January 1938. A selection of photographic evidence along with eye-witness accounts can be viewed in a collection held at Yale University’s Divinity School Library, respectively at: https://web.library.yale.edu/divinity/nanking/photographs
https://web.library.yale.edu/divinity/nanking/documents

《南京大屠杀》

朱剑

墙上
密密麻麻写满
成千上万
死难者的名字

我看了一眼
只看了一眼
就决定离开
头也不回的离开

因为我看到了
一位朋友的名字
当然我知道
只是重名

几乎可以确定
只要再看第二眼
我就会看见
自己的名字

Phosphorescent Light

Walking past the graveyard
I see phosphorescent light flickering
A friend says, it is
The bone that glows

I wonder
Whether there is
A noble lamp *
In the bone of every man

Many people have lived out
A life in humiliation
They can’t light it up
Until death

* “Noble” (l. 7): used in the sense of something worthy of respect or administration as distinct from aristocratic.

《磷火》

朱剑

路经坟场
看见磷火闪烁
朋友说，这是
骨头在发光

是不是
每个人的骨头里
都有一盏
高贵的灯

许多人屈辱地
活了一辈子
死后，的灯
点亮

The Anecdote of the Food Market

I decided later
never to go to the food market again

when I learn
it used to be an execution ground

sunlight skipping
over the knifepoint

a head falls
with a thud

it’s actually
a fish head

but I raise my hand
to touch the back of my neck

《菜市场轶事》

朱剑

我决定以后
再也不去那个菜市场

当我得知那儿
从前是一个刑场

阳光在刀尖
跳跃

“咔嚓”一声
头落地

其实是一颗
鱼头

我抬手摸摸
脑后脖子

The Old Beggar-Woman

She still sits there,
the old beggar-woman.
Heavy snow,
she is wrapped in
a worn-out black padded jacket.

The pedestrians all keep away from her,
including me.
She is here every day,
as common
as a roadside pole.

But I’ve still sensed
something is amiss.
The whole city is dressed
in white today
while she, like
a drop of ink
spatters on it.

I bet
the ink dot
will render all the dry cleaners
helpless.

《乞讨的老女人》

朱剑

她还坐在那儿
一个乞讨的老女人
雪很大
她顶着一件
破旧的黑棉袄

行人都绕开他
包括我
天天在这儿
她已平常如同
路边的电线杆

可我还是感觉
有一点不对头
今天城市换了一身
洁白的衣服
她则如
一滴墨水
溅到了上面

我敢打赌
所有的干洗店
都会对这墨点
束手无措

Top

A top is very humble.
The more ruthlessly it is whipped,
the more cheerfully it spins.
I am even inferior to it.
Having been whipped for thousands of years
I have more welts all over my body than my blood vessels,
more horrifying than the flame.
But I say: a tiger
also has beautiful patterns.

《陀螺》

朱剑

陀螺很下贱
鞭子抽得越狠
它旋得越欢快
但我比陀螺还要下贱
鞭子抽了我几千年
鞭痕比身上血管还多
比火焰还要惊心
可我说：老虎
也有美丽的花纹