Xi Chuan: POWER OUTAGE
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Xi Chuan translated by Lucas Klein
from Xi, Chuan. Notes on the Mosquito: Selected Poems, translated by Lucas Klein. (NY: New Directions, 2012) By permission of the translator and New Directions Publishing.
Xi Chuan translated by Lucas Klein
POWER OUTAGE
A sudden power outage, and I’m convinced
I live in a developing nation
I live in a developing nation
a nation where people read by moonlight
a nation that abolished imperial exams
a nation that abolished imperial exams
a sudden power outage, and I hear
wind chimes and a cat’s footbeats upstairs
wind chimes and a cat’s footbeats upstairs
in the distance an engine stops with a thud
the battery-powered radio beside me still singing
the battery-powered radio beside me still singing
once the power’s out, time turns back quickly:
candles light up the little eateries
candles light up the little eateries
the fat kid munching on crow meat notices
crows gathering on trees
crows gathering on trees
and the pitch blackness before me
like a seaswell womb
like a seaswell womb
a mother hangs herself from rafters
each room its own special odor
each room its own special odor
Power outage. I touch a slipper
but mutter: “Quit hiding, matches!”
but mutter: “Quit hiding, matches!”
in the candlelight, I see my own
great big wordless shadow cast upon the wall
great big wordless shadow cast upon the wall
from Xi, Chuan. Notes on the Mosquito: Selected Poems, translated by Lucas Klein. (NY: New Directions, 2012) By permission of the translator and New Directions Publishing.
I was not prepared for the high lyricism of the simile nor for " a mother hanging..." line. The poem goes dark in many ways.
ReplyDeleteLove the reference to the cat's footbeats upstairs. I thought the poem was taking us in the direction of a political statement--all the subtle details we miss in our busy, electronic lives. But yes, then the crow enters the poem, the hanging, the shadow.
ReplyDeletePowerfu! A poem to come back to. A poem that will haunt me.
ReplyDeletethe inability to get at; inexperience in the dark. Wonderful poem.
ReplyDelete