This Translation Tuesday, we feature “Four Poems” by the young, up-and-coming Hong Kong poet Milo Tse, translated from the Cantonese by award-winning translator and author Eleanor Goodman. In these poems, what jumps out to the reader is Tse’s sardonic wit coupled with her insistent repetition that make for a delightful experience when read aloud. Allow yourself to be taken in by Tse’s energetic voice that represents just one of many voices emerging from Hong Kong’s literary scene today.
Four Poems
Welcome into the glorious
windstorm
Of course you weren’t invited
I just happened to begin blowing
blowing across your eyes
blowing across your phone number
blowing across your time to sleep
blowing across your ancestry
blowing across your dignity
blowing across your hands and feet your hair and your
love, if you have any
Then stark naked you enter
the eye of my storm, whereupon
you’re not allowed to leave
In this holy place
I am your patron saint
*
Too many breasts
swaying, and not swaying
too many duties
sweet, and not sweet
too many texts
deleted, and not yet deleted
too many enemies
real, and invented
too many taxis
in service, and not in service
too many monitors
watched, and unwatched
too many plants
that sheep eat, and don’t eat
too many plastic things
biodegradable, and non-biodegradable
too many sins
forgivable, and unforgivable
too many days
to write poems, and not write poems
too much cat hair
from Peas, and from Hands*
*
Your face is concealed
all I can see is your eyes
and body
da da da da
Your feet won’t laugh
but curve slightly inward
da da da da
Your hands don’t cry
but the veins pop out
da da da da
Courage or fear
makes you puff up your chest
da da da da
Indifference or passion
makes your pelvis rigid
da da da da
da da da da
da da da da
da da da da
Who drives us off with a stick like we’re animals
becoming the metronome’s
slave?
*
Hug a man
and a support will rise
hug a woman
and a chatterbox will open
hug a cat
and let a helicopter blow you away
hug a dog
and let a tsunami drown you
hug your father
and the air will solidify
hug your mother
“Are you out of money?”
hug yourself
and be tempted to cry
hug a pillow
goodnight
*Peas and Hands are the poet’s cats
Translated from the Cantonese by Eleanor Goodman
Milo Tse graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a major in Comparative Literature. She has also pursued a Fine Arts degree at RMIT. She shares her body experiences through various forms, including poems, photography and performance. She is neither married, nor desexed yet.
Eleanor Goodman is the author of Nine Dragon Island, and the translator of four books from Chinese. She is a Research Associate at the Harvard University Fairbank Center, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Her translation of poems by Zheng Xiaoqiong will appear this year.
*****
Read more from Translation Tuesdays on the Asymptote blog here: