An Afternoon in Yunnan

 

Afternoon in Yunnan,

no mention of poetry,

no exchange about human sufferings before we went to bed.

We were two women,

neither was a mother.

We talked about the starry sky, the philosophy of Kant,

Mother Teresa, and cardiology.

We mused about those atheists that turned pious in old age,

and how shadows could be prettier than the objects.

There was a different perspective then: being childless kept us whole.

 

Na Ye – from 21st Century Chinese Poetry, No. 8

 

 

云南的黄昏

我们并没谈起诗歌

夜晚也没交换所谓的苦难

两个女人

都不是母亲

我们谈论星空和康德

特蕾莎修女和心脏内科

谈论无神论者迷信的晚年

一些事物的美在于它的阴影

另一个角度:没有孩子使我们得以完整

娜夜

 

Na Ye 娜夜

Ms. Na Ye was born in Liaoning Province of Manchurian descent, but grew up in China’s northwest region. She graduated from the Chinese Department of Nanjing University. She has published four poetry collections, among them Savoring Love, My Cold Lips and Poems by Na Ye, and received the prestigious Luxun Literary Award for her poetic works. She lives and works in Gansu Province as a journalist.

 

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