CHUN SHU / TRANSLATED BY CECILY CHEN

点燃蜡烛洗澡
春树

大部分时候我感到羞耻
我遇到的都是多差劲的男人呵
就别把我们的合影
拿出来一看再看了
月圆的晚上
容易想到缪斯
想到家暴
想到有过短暂情史的
长发蓝眼睛
我们互抽对方嘴巴
在酒店的床上翻滚
散落一地烟灰
真是个意外之夜
久违的疯狂
不做爱只接吻
当然他必须消失
他懂，于是先走了
留下一趟短途旅行和一篇小说
无法信任那些说谎的人
同时也不原谅自己
对生活的不满
造就了我的美丽
摩拳擦掌想到这些
想到老金斯堡的“内心暴跳如雷”和“窗外的杂种还是挺多的”
揪落红玫瑰花瓣
在男人的阳具插入之前
我们把玫瑰花瓣放入阴道

Lighting a candle and taking a bath
Translated by: Cecily Chen

Most of the time I am full of shame
All the men that I meet are oh-so-very-shitty
So stop pulling out our photos together
For my eyes to linger and caress
Full moon
How easy it is to think of the Muse
Of domestic violence
Of the one with long hair and blue eyes
From a passing tryst
We slap each other in the face
And tussle on the hotel bed
Spilling cigarette ash to the ground
What a night of surprises
The return of that familiar wildness
Not fucking and only kissing
Of course he then must retire
He understands, and excuses himself
Leaving behind a quick trip and a story
Distrustful of those that speak untruths
And unforgiving too of my own
Dissatisfactions with life
This is what defines my beauty
Rolling up my sleeves as I think of all of this
Of good ol’ Ginsberg’s “thunderous, tempestuous heart” and “outside the window
are the hordes of wretched souls”
Pulling petals from red roses
We place the rose petals inside our cunts
Before the first thrust of a man’s cock

Chun Shu (b. 1983), born Zou Nan, is a contemporary Chinese novelist and writer. She is one of the most prominent figures of the post-1980s poets in China. She currently lives in Berlin and Beijing.

Cecily Chen is a writer and translator from Beijing, China. She is currently completing a PhD in English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago, where she works on experimental Asian American literature, Marxist aesthetics, and negative affect. She is the translator of two chapbooks, CHEATING (Inpatient Press, 2022) and SWEET TALK (The Year, forthcoming 2025). She is also the poetry editor at Chicago Review.