Jiang XiaoYu – The Rebels’ June

XiaoYu LE P&W Eng-Chin Jan 2023 copy

Download PDF Here 
Live Encounters Poetry & Writing English-Chinese Edition January 2023

The Rebels’ June, poem by Jiang XiaoYu.


The Rebels’ June

Listen to Tchaikovsky’s June (Barcarolle)

This June is the rebels’ June
The loved ones far away from gunfire and smoke
Have gradually immerged into the galaxies’ inner world
Only moonlight cleansed hands are merited
To pick the midnight strawberries

The summer days we had before were not summer days
Following the fingertips of the continuo
They flowed to wave summits sharper than blades
As if hiding unknown sources about life and death
They waited for a baffling truth

The night wind carried the daggers upstream
The call of concord sprang out a bright texture
Hijacking strangers who switched fingers in the same key
Through low and high vocal cords of the closed cabin
the rhythm of Barcarolle emerged once again

And now, under the shadow of the hunter
The triumphalist has invaded the memories of others
The ending is not yet certain, the evening sun has already set
The abyss is an inch lower than the sky
It belongs to the history of the loser himself

Like flowers with arpeggio immersing in water
The right hand immerses in time
The daisy makes its last statement while fading out
The moonlight penetrates through the rebels’ rear
disappearing in the clear spring of ignorance, escaping into the vastness

The night sky is in the chordal beats
The generation’s silence turns into a shipwreck
Lying flat in their own deep sea
When fresh fish bones cross the sky
It is the closest moment to God


叛逆者的六月

听柴可夫斯基《六月船歌》

这个六月,是叛逆者的六月
所爱的人远离枪火和烟火
缓缓深入星辰的内部
只有被月光清洗的双手
才配得上摘下午夜的草莓

曾经有过的夏日不是夏日
早已随着连奏的手指尖
流向比刀锋更锋利的浪尖
犹如隐藏着生死不明的来处
等待一个扑朔迷离的真相

夜风携带短刃溯流而上
和声的呼召弹出明亮的质感
将同音换指的陌生人劫持
低声部与高声部的密舱
将船歌的律动又一次浮现

而此刻,借助狩猎人的阴影
凯旋者正闯入他人的记忆
结局尚未确定晚霞已经落幕
深渊比天空低垂一寸
那是属于失败者自己的历史

沉浸在时间里的右手
恍如琶音的鲜花沉浸在水中
雏菊在渐弱里做最后陈述
月色击穿叛逆的背影
消失于无明的清泉,遁入苍茫

夜空在和弦的拍打声中
一代人的沉默化为一艘沉船
躺平在属于自己的深海里
看鲜活的鱼骨划过天际
那是最接近神的时刻


English translation © Anna Yin/© Jiang XiaoYu

江小鱼,电影导演、影评人、文化评论家、编剧、诗人、脱口秀主持人。先后就读于南京大学中文系和北京电影学院导演系,电影作品获国内外各类电影节众多奖项,文学作品入选《百年中国文学经典》,著有《江小鱼文集》(十卷)。

Jiang XiaoYu is a film director, film critic, cultural commentator, screenwriter, poet and talk show host. He studied at the Chinese Literature Department of Nanjing University and the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy. His films have won numerous awards at various film festivals at home and abroad, and he has authored ten volumes of essays and his literary works have been selected as part of the “100 Years of Chinese Literature Classics”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.