A Poem Based on News

By Bai Hua

That's Donnald Holl's fish---
"Of course all creatures need to feel useful.
At maturity, the fish will discover their purposes."
We bring democracy to the fish?

That's Saba's pig---
"Like all life he does not know what purpose
he will serve when he was reached perfection."
We bring democracy to the pig?

Knelt down the cattle, tears of cattle, water-injected cattle ...
It knew it was going to die, at Quanjiao east of Anhui .
---An old town of socialism
We bring democracy to the cattle?

Nov. 23, 2018/ translated by Chen Zihong

Translator's Note:
Donnald Holl's fish, from the poem "We Bring Democracy to the Fish".
Saba's pig, from Umberto Saba's poem "The Pig" ("Songbook: The Selected Poems of Umberto Saba " English translated by Stephen Sartarelli)

诗人简介：柏桦（1956-）中国当代著名诗人，西南交通大学艺术与传播学院教授。代表作《表达》、《往事》。

本诗英文译文及所附中文原诗已获作者授权，未经原作者和译者许可，谢绝任何转载及用于任何商业用途。

一首新闻诗

那是唐纳德·霍尔的“鱼”——
“当然所有生物需要感觉自己有用。
一旦成熟，鱼将发现自己的用场。”
我们会给鱼带来民主？

那是萨巴的“猪”——
“它像所有的生命，对于日后
臻于成熟时的用途，一无所知。”
我们会给猪带来民主？

跪下的牛，流泪的牛，注水的牛……
它知道它要死了，在安徽全椒
——这座社会主义的古城
我们会给牛带来民主？

2018年11月23日