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  READ MORE…