Make a Daughter Fall

March, and me still barren

my daughter climbs a turquoise nipple

and takes a gulp of milk

my daughter her mama still hasn't figured

out how to wash her labia with river water

my daughter perches on the sky

and grows into a crooked moon

if she thinks the sky's no fun

I'll catch her a papa

her papa he'll

blow his mustache flat with rage

watching the mountain slope

grow into his daughter's little tummy

he'll be beside himself

if she wants to carve monuments

we'll walk the path to her papa's back

pinch lice, scratch itchy patches

yearning for monuments

is yearning to carve living

down to simple white

if it's marriage she wants

I'll take her to the dried-up well in town

and shout our forebears' wickedness

straight out

I'll find a man

and breed until our next life

March

her papa and her mama

unzip their pants and do their best

to make the cabbage bloom

and a daughter fall

to make good on sweat's promise, to laugh out tears

女儿落地

三月，我还不曾怀孕

我的女儿就爬上翠绿的乳头

咀了一口奶

我女儿她娘还没学会

用河水冲洗阴唇

我的女儿就杵在天上

发育为弯弯的月儿

要是她觉得天上不好玩

就带她去捉一个爹

她爹啊

准在山坳里吹胡子瞪眼

看山坡日渐长成

女儿的小腹

心里发慌

她若想刻碑

就绕着小路到她爹背上

抓虱子挠痒痒

刻碑之心就是刻下

生活的简单

她要想嫁人

就带她去村头的枯井

把祖先们的放荡呼喊出来

找个男人

把命运的轮回交配出来

三月啊

她爹与她娘

都要解开裤腰带大干一场

一边让油菜开花

一边让女儿落地

一边挥汗如雨，一边笑出泪来

Translated by Dave Haysom, A K Blakemore