32nd Thirtember

Literary Review, Summer, 2004 by Yip Fai

32nd Thirtember

   The old man under the shade of the tree said: memory is a river
   It used to be a long river, it changed its course and flowed
      upstream

   In Studio August I turned over photos sepia with age
   On the eighth day you dug out bones speckled with stains

   Autumn birds twittered searching amidst fallen leaves for the
      expiry date
   Snowflakes fell on a muddy square to freeze summer's insect eggs

   The island had gone a little senile some three centuries ago
   Love and procreation remained entwined night and day

   The river was dry, the riverbed cracked like a criss-cross
      tortoise shell
   Then came spring tides afloat with condoms and afterbirth

   I'm on the football pitch playing an inter-school soccer
      match of thirty years ago
   You're in a game shop playing Space Adventure of thirty years from
      now

   All my life I've been trying to recall the forgotten days
   In the end I gave up and just scribbled: 32nd Thirtember

Translated from the Chinese by Martha P.Y. Cheung