Chinese Silence No. 14
By Timothy Yu
after Billy Collins, "Silence"
You have the right to remain silent.
That is your job.
A ball gag plugs your mouth,
and the immigrant girl with her loud
sewing machine has been deported.
So tell us about the mind of China.
We want to hear the silent blooming of its cherry blossoms,
the quiet unfastening of its gowns,
its songs of soy sauce
and tiny bound feet.
Its trains have been blown up by dynamite,
its factories bombed into silence.
Its mewling puppies have been smothered
and its gods are suffocating inside specimen jars.
Shanghai has been evacuated
and each inhabitant issued an edition of Gary Snyder.
So tell us about your ancestors,
your grandfather in his bamboo cage,
your grandmother drowned in the well.
Let’s hear about the unmoving clouds, the stunted trees.
Read the poem we have placed in front of you.
The Pacific has been drained,
and even Ezra Pound
has burst from his grave,
his moldering hand poised to translate what you do not say.
Timothy Yu, "Chinese Silence No. 14" from 100 Chinese Silences. Copyright © 2016 by Timothy Yu. Reprinted by permission of Les Figues Press.
Source:
100 Chinese Silences
(Les Figues Press, 2016)
