The following is my translation of “Crossing Half of China to Be With You” by Yu Xiuhua (余秀华). Yu Xiuhua (b. 1976) is a Chinese poet based in Hengdian, a small village in the Hubei province. Her ideas and experiences regarding love, disillusionment, rural isolation, societal injustice, and disability are documented in her extensive works of raw and poignant poetry, as well as the documentary Still Tomorrow (2016).
“Crossing Half of China to Be With You,” which went viral on WeChat in 2014, has already been translated by many. My slightly euphemistic rendition, which I offer below, is but one personal interpretation and offering. It is not officially authorized by the poet.
穿过大半个中国去睡你
其实，睡你和被你睡是差不多的，无非是
两具肉体碰撞的力，无非是这力催开的花朵
无非是这花朵虚拟出的春天让我们误以为生命被重新打开
大半个中国，什么都在发生：火山在喷，河流在枯
一些不被关心的政治犯和流民
一路在枪口的麋鹿和丹顶鹤
我是穿过枪林弹雨去睡你
我是把无数的黑夜摁进一个黎明去睡你
我是无数个我奔跑成一个我去睡你
当然我也会被一些蝴蝶带入歧
把一些赞美当成春天
把一个和横店类似的村庄当成故乡
而它们
都是我去睡你必不可少的理由
Crossing Half of China to Be With You
Actually, giving it or taking, it’s about the same, just
the force of two bodies colliding, just the force of a flower blooming
just this flower’s virtual spring that we again confuse for life
Across China, everything is happening: volcanos erupt, rivers run dry
political prisoners and refugees are ignored
deer and cranes are held at gunpoint along the way
I’m crossing a sea of bullets to be with you
I’m compressing countless nights into one dawn to be with you
I’m running countless I’s into one me to be with you
Of course I’ll let a few butterflies lead me astray
Let some admiration turn into spring
Mistake a soundstage for home
Yet these
are all the reasons why I absolutely must be with you.