This week’s Translation Tuesday features the work of Jacky Yuen. Titled “9th June,” after the date of the sizable 2019 demonstrations in Hong Kong, this poem paints the energy and direction of the protestors in a way that is both cosmic but not disengaged. Within the symbolism of the poem, the oppression of mass and obscurity are combatted by singular points. The poet expresses a spirit that is constant rejuvenating and resurfacing, which is aptly captured by the translator: clauses tumble over one another like a structure kept in motion by magnets. Inspiration moves through the people as stardust and rainbows, ethereal and material at the same time. The poem presents the material and metaphysical aspects of collective movement, expressed in individual activation, thereby expressing the frustration and hope of the current political climate.
9th June
No one wants to drown twice in the same ocean.
The fins that sank
will resurface.
⠀
The comet fights to resurface.
It trails long shards of ice
like a fisherman’s net. When we lowered it they were stones—
When the times released it they were stars in sideburns.
Each generation must have its roads and its flags,
its drumbeat and its flashing lights.
At the end of the road, new phalanges grow
past the high-rising high-rises.
When those new phalanges become old,
new rainbows will be the roads that later comers will tread.
If we’re destined to walk into black fog,
this is how we will light up
each light in the city, each person.
六月九日
沒有人希望為同一片海洋葬身兩次
但那些沉下去的鰭
最終還是會回來。
彗星奮力回來
每次都拖曳著長長的冰屑
像捕海的網，我們投入時有石頭
被時代釋放時已是鬢角的星星
但一代人必然有屬於他們的路和旗幟
有他們的鼓聲和燈號
路走盡了就從盡頭生出新的指骨
一直越過高樓和高樓，
待到新的指骨變成舊的
新的彩虹變成後來者要走過的橋。
若注定要走向黑霧裡
我們就此點亮
城市裡的每一盞燈，每一個人。
Translated from the Chinese by Chenxin Jiang
Jacky Yuen obtained his PhD in Biochemistry (Med) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and currently works as a high school biology teacher in Hong Kong. He has published five poetry collections, including A Blueprint of Barren Lands (2018) and Papers flying into fire (2019).
Chenxin Jiang is the former Senior Editor (Chinese) at Asymptote.
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