Chinese Silence No. 14

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.

Source: 100 Chinese Silences (Les Figues Press, 2016)