1923

by Bai Hua
     trs. by Fan Jinghua

Why are those gone out at night reluctant to go back home?
Why do words play no more games and they only make love . . .

Not every willow learns young when to withdraw,
Not every man turns bad with one lie;
Down to the Opera House!  “Massage at the third floor.”
Love is not always a long-gone childhood.

Not to feel leads to one’s loss, Marathon;
Hear songs in trees, see dances in branches, Breton.
Could there be a Laos afternoon in France?  No
News from the driver, let’s go back to the hotel.

Here comes surrealism, and with it, feminine rhyme;
Here comes fair and square, and with it, counterrevolution.
He who loves at the first sight loves abstruse secrets;
Architect students fall in love with a cloud in trousers?

Sept. 22, 2017