Perhaps Caught by Surprise Next Moment - Yang Ke / 杨 克

Yang Ke / 杨 克





Perhaps Caught by Surprise Next Moment

A gust of wind, blows the dancing blossoms off the twigs
A skimming stone causes ripples, and suddenly sinks
Crystalised soul, the dew rests on the blades of grass
It swiftly falls quietly and peacefully
The bullets of coronavirus fly
Life is shattered like frosted glass, piece by piece
You may be caught by surprise next moment
The white cloud is cleaner than a mask
The sky and lakes gracefully form layers and layers of blue
The world still revolves by the laws of nature
The sun springs out from the joyful song of the nightingale
The loud rays drown out the noise of the city
Only the humans dread meeting up
The cows, sheep and snakes still feel relaxed
The lions and tigers at the zoo
And the grass, leaves, vines, trees and streams
Enjoy the rare tranquillity
The pandemic does not touch flora and fauna
The birds fly in the sky, the fish swim in the water
They are closer to the world’s magnetic field
Day will become dusk, and dawn will break
A sky full of stars reserved for the night watchman

(Translated by Wenyan Lu)





下一秒钟也许就猝不及防

一阵风，突然吹掉枝头上雀跃的花
石片在河面划起水漂，猛地下沉
晶莹剔透的灵魂，露珠在草尖小憩
片刻安然坠落
冠状病毒的子弹在飞
生命像毛玻璃一块接一块碎裂
下一秒钟也许就猝不及防

白云比一片口罩干净
天空和湖泊悠扬层层叠叠的蓝
世界还是依着它的秩序运转
太阳从夜莺欢快的弹舌音里跳起
响亮的光焰漫过市区的噪声

除了人，见面惴惴不安
奶牛，绵羊，蛇，它们反而大自在
动物园的狮子与老虎
还有自然界草叶藤蔓树木和溪流
享受难得的宁静，疫情与万类无关
鸟在天上飞，鱼在水里游
更能接近造化的磁场

天总会黑，天总会亮起来
而繁星满空是留给守夜人的

2020.08.20



*



The Same Dark Road Redeemed by Headlights

-- To Nikola Madzirov

Strong as a horse, my impression of you
a short-haired horse, without flying manes.
In Cambridge, we read poems in Academician Garden.
Your reading, clear and powerful,
sounded like clip-clopping hoofs crossing the lawn,
right to the point，leaving behind a series of prints.

You said you don't desire a permanent mark
while stepping on the wet
only curious to interact with the world.
Clear your imagination,
keep it simple，while cutting out stories and scenes.
Reject metaphors, while creating new ones
as in your hometown Balkan Peninsula
people prefer to live in unfinished buildings.
Building houses while living.

Adam Zagajewski once said that images of your poetry
are like nocturnal animals suddenly illuminated by headlight.
Both of you are as brilliant as superstars
who help a tiny country to dominate Greenland of poetry.
Because of you, I got the knowledge of north Macedonia’s
complex history and tragic reality.
Your country is like another name of you.
In your language it means homelessness.

In Gengzi spring，the epidemic raged
You wrote me an email asking if I was okay.
Poets all over the world are brothers and sisters.
More than 180 million people infected with covid19.
Three of my foreign poets friends are included.
Adam Zagajewski, who appreciated you
his body was transferring to sculpture.
The train of poetry sounds the siren of heaven.
Mira, the translator of my Arabic poetry selection, was cured.
Her fingers is bouncing,
like a rabbit typing on the keyboard.

Now you're lying in a hospital bed.
Lands apart, sky shared.
There is a moon in the sky of Macedonia
just looking at the mountainous Balkans
just shining on your heart.

I hear your song being sung again
the hooves beating the heart
precise words one by one
gallop happily in the field of life.
You're like a refugee suddenly caught in headlights.

2021.07.10

(译者 戴潍娜 Translated by daiweina)





被车灯救赎的同一条暗路

——致尼古拉·马兹洛夫

印象里你健壮如一匹马
没有飞扬的鬃毛，剪一头短发
剑桥，我们在院士花园读诗
你的朗读清脆有力
像达达的马蹄驰过草地
直击主题，留下一个个蹄窝

你说在湿地踩两脚
并不想留下永久的印记
只是好奇跟世界互动
你清除繁琐的想象
大道至简，取消故事和场景
拒绝隐喻，却创造了新隐喻
如同你家乡巴尔干半岛的习俗
人们喜欢住在未完成的建筑中
一边居住一边盖屋

扎加耶夫说，你诗的意象
如夜行动物突然被车灯照亮
你俩都那么杰出，就像超级球星
使弹丸小国雄霸诗的绿地
因为你，我才知道北马其顿
复杂的历史和悲惨的境遇
你的祖国就像你的名字
在你民族的语言里寓意无家可归

庚子疫情肆虐的春天
你发来电邮，询问我可安好
天下诗人都是兄弟
全球新冠一亿八千多万人
我见过的外国诗人三个染疫
赞美你的诗翁扎加耶夫
他的照片化为雕塑
诗的专列拉响天国的汽笛
我阿语诗集译者米拉则己痊愈
手指蹦蹦跳跳
像一只小兔正在键盘上打字

此刻你躺在医院的病床上
山川异域风月同天
北马其顿天空有一轮月亮
只照多山的巴尔干半岛
只照你的内心

我啼听你诗的声音再次响起
心脏的马蹄哒哒跳动
春风得意驰骋生命的原野
一个个精准的词
你如难民突然被车灯照亮

2021.07.10





***





Yang Ke. In contemporary poetic scene, Yang Ke is a unique poet who has exhibited through his work personalized historical imagination and a will for truth. His urban poetry writing has created a peculiar subjectivity. For more than 30 years, his writing which is heavily informed by traditional Chinese poetry cannon, has embarked on an alternative path, with its forceful emotional appeal and its drives for an innovative poetics.
So far, Yang Ke has published  twelve poetry selections including Yang Ke's Poems, Related and Unrelated, I Speak the Shape of the Wind, I Saw My Country in A Pomegranate，four prose essays and one non-fiction book by The People's Literature Publishing House and Taiwan Huapin Wenchuang Co.Ltd., etc. Yang Ke’spoetry books have been translated into 16 different languages and published by Japanese Ichao Society, the University of Oklahoma University Press, and the University of Zaragoza, Spain and others in 8 countries. Yang Ke’s poems and essays are anthologized in 400 kinds of books such as China's New Literature Series and 100 Years of Chinese New Poetry.
Yang Ke was the Editor-in-chief of Chinese New Poetry Yearbook (1998-2019), They :10 Years of Poetry, and 100 New Poems for Children,  He was awarded the "Cambridge Xu Zhimo Poetry Award" in the United Kingdom, the "Outstanding Poet Award" from the Romanian Publishing Copyright Corporation, the Guangdong Lu Xun Literature and Art Award, the First Biennial Top Ten Poets Award ，the 12th Shanghai Literature Award, the 9th  BingXin Essay Award and other international, Chinese and Taiwan literature awards. He also held solo exhibitions in poetry at the Shenzhen Art Museum. Yang Ke is a member of the Presidium of the Chinese Writers Association,president of the Chinese Poetry Society, president and editor in Chief of the Literary Journal, Works, and Research Fellow of the Poetry Research Institute of Peking University.


杨克.杨克是当代汉语诗人中一以贯之具有个人化历史想象力和求真意志的诗人，其城市诗歌写作开启了某种意义上的主体性。在人民文学出版社和台湾华品文创有限公司等出版《杨克的诗》《有关与无关》《我说出了风的形状》《我在一颗石榴里看见了我的祖国》等12部中文诗集、4部散文随笔集和1本文集，日本思潮社、美国俄克拉赫马大学出版社、西班牙萨拉戈萨大学出版社等出版8种外语诗集。获英国“剑桥徐志摩银柳叶诗歌奖“、罗马尼亚出版版权总公司“杰出诗人奖“，广东鲁迅文艺奖等外国、中国大陆和台湾文学奖十多种。2021年新近获得“第12届《上海文学》奖”和“第9届冰心散文奖散文集奖”。中国作家协会主席团委员，中国诗歌学会会长。