Chinese poetry

 

EVERY MORNING’S RAINBOW
Written in Chinese by Qi Guo
Translated into English by Ouyang Yu

A red hat
An orange tie
A yellow shirt
A green coat
A black trousers
Two blue socks
Two pink shoes
Placed in the bed
In the shape of my death

Naked, I
Circle around this bed
And read my memorial speech three times
And then put them on one by one
Walk out the door
Like someone alive

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FACES IN THE MIRROR
Written in Chinese by Qi Guo
Translated into English by Ouyang Yu

Having nothing to do
I look at the face in the mirror

I look and look and see my son’s face
I look and look and see my son’s girl friend’s face

I look and look and see his girl friend’s mother’s face
I look and look and see her mother’s lover’s face

I quickly wash my face
And look again

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THE SUPER MODEL
Written by Yi Sha
Translated into English by Ouyang Yu

you say that she is naked
she says that she is wearing a human skin

FETISH
by Ouyang Yu

-the thing locks itself when you are into it you are almost out of it
-cold feet/ish
-a f(et)ish that you eat and eat and eat till you are f(et)ished
-these words: skin or skeletal; academic or alliterative; sour or sinister
-shoetish, shitish, pissish, facialish, thoughtish, poetish, yuish, feelingish
-reportedly, he weighed into the debate
-take an exile in it, a nation of minds pick/led
-driving yourself beyond a point where you can understand yourself
-fee-tish: to write, a cuntish park, fotoish

Author: Ouyang Yu

Ouyang Yu came to Australia at the age of 35, and, by 57, has published 65 books of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, literary translation and criticism in English and Chinese languages, including his award-winning novel, The Eastern Slope Chronicle (2002); his collection of poetry in English, The Kingsbury Tales (2008); his collection of Chinese poetry, Slow Motion (2009); his book of creative non-fiction, On the Smell of an Oily Rag: Speaking English, Thinking Chinese and Living Australian (2008); his book of literary criticism, Chinese in Australian Fiction: 1888-1988 (2008), and his translation in Chinese, The Fatal Shore (forthcoming in 2012). His second novel, The English Class (2010), won the Community Relations Commission Award in the 2011 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award, as well as short-listed for the 2011 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the 2011 Western Australia Premier’s Awards and Queensland Premier’s Awards. Ouyang Yu was nominated one of the Top 100 Most Influential Melbournians for the year 2011 as well as the Top 10 most influential Chinese writers in the Chinese diaspora. Ouyang is now professor of English at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. www.ouyangyu.com.au

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