HOMETOWN 故乡

by Xiao Qiao
translated by Cindy M. Carter

 

A hometown is a nose bleed
(or construction-site cement
coursing through your parents' veins)
a warm current that
even time cannot resolve

Picking up a piece of the past
is like picking up a fragment of bone,
unearthing night's dark flesh

A hometown isn't fertile soil
(but it is a ferry)
a poor and humble river
that lacks direction
and doesn't corner well

 

05 - Beijing (1987)
photograph by Han Lei

 

故乡让人流鼻血
（工地的水泥在父母体内搅动）
那是时间也无法解释的热流
随便拾起一截往事
就像拾起一截骨头
裸露着黑夜的皮肉
故乡
不是沃土
（而是轮渡）
而是贫贱的河流
没有方向
没有灵巧的转弯

 

 

 

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