The Changing Room: Selected poetry of Zhai Yongming

My Bat

30 我的蝙蝠 蝙蝠是我的密友 是我的衣服 是我的头发追随我 隐姓埋名的缘由 漫长的冬天与我同住 他是畜类中最钟情的一种 空虚易碎的心最能打动 茫茫无边的鬼魂 悬空的夜晚 有他的睡眠 蝙蝠是人的伙计 无人知晓 深不可测的世界有我们全面的出发点 他古怪的脾气向来就强调 先天优势 当清晨照射我们的住处 他偷偷离去 起先我以为他是懂事的飞禽 他激情的十指纠正错误 他解释 又公布 那理所当然的区分 蝙蝠是我的影子 他的思想跟踪我 获取确切的情报 直至 盲目的爱情使他神智恢复 孤零零的流浪 他执意的飞行永远无法接近鸟类 因他生就的苦难相难以自由 睡不着的夜里 他倒挂着 与我作对 加强四周的黑暗 31 MY BAt Bat is my secret friend the clothes i wear the hair trailing behind me the reason i go incognito abiding with me through endless winters he’s a notably devoted domestic animal a fragile and empty heart is easiest to touch a spirit that knows no limits nights suspended in the air embrace his sleep Bat serves us no one is aware our point of origin is in the world’s unfathomable depths his eccentricity only confirms his inborn superiority When early morning shines into our dwelling he slips away at first i took him for some sort of wise bird his zealous digits righting old wrongs he explains he broadcasts Significant distinctions Bat is my shadow his mind tracks me gathering reliable intelligence until Blind love brings him back to his senses Lonely wayfarer his perserving flight will never match a bird’s For his look of inborn suffering is hard to escape on sleepless nights he hangs upside down opposing me deepening the surrounding darkness 32 蝙蝠是古老的故事 是梦中最后的发现 是一个畸形的伪装的鸟 高贵的心难以着陆 他重大的 肉感的形态 始终与我有关 这一切幼时多么熟悉 现在也依然存在 33 Bat is an ancient story the final sequence of a dream a bird with strange camouflage Such a lofty spirit can hardly come to earth his weighty carnal form has been linked to me from the start the intimacy of our childhood remains unbroken even today ...