Zbornik Mednarodnega literarnega srečanja Vilenica 2004 - Ljudmila

Cai Tianxin
Niagara Falls
Above the blue, white.
Surrounded by blue, white,
like death wallowing in illusions.
More feathers than tourists have hair.
Sooner than lovers’ lips, bird mouths
kiss the curtain of rain.
Relaxed, I release
names to the water. They float off
just as night falls.
A pale sun shivers. One step
closer to death. Thousands of icy hands
brush the nape of my neck.
New York, 1994
Translated by John Rosenwald
Rubber Eraser
Outside the window, lightning bugs flashing.
In the field, the rhythm of frogs croaking.
In the room, conversation continuing heart-to-heart.
The boy next to him quietly
tucks a hand into his khaki shorts.
Pleasure, like waves, washes quickly over his body.
Then a new round of hide-and-seek, till
the mothers tire of the old topics.
He lies, reminiscing,
eyes focused on that hand withdrawing
like a flash of light, stretching
from then to now, thousands of miles away.
Medellin, 2000
Translated by John Rosenwald
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