Ears —for Ah-Xiang (By Wang Mingyun)

by Wang Mingyun
(translated by Denis Mair)

I see two sparrows
On an electric wire
It makes me think of us
Writing poems, like an aerial assignment
With high voltage beneath our feet
And a yawning abyss

Strepto-mycin… Genta-mycin
This word root “MYC-” refers to fungus…not a lucky word
And its bad luck took root in our ears
Your ears were deadened
My ears have a ringing sound
Night and day I tried many medicines
No more effective than the setting sun
A cup of cloudy rice wine
A page of poetry
A day, a year, a lifetime
At this moment
A squadron of geese heads south
Snow falls on the Yellow River
My brother in poetry
We are two sparrows on a high voltage line
These feathers that grow on us
Are as one with the sky