Author Archives: Jujube Monster

“The Traveling Onion”

When I think how far the onion has traveled
just to enter my stew today, I could kneel and praise
all small forgotten miracles,
crackly paper peeling on the drainboard,
pearly layers in smooth agreement,
the way the knife enters onion
and onion falls apart on the chopping block,
a history revealed.

— Naomi Shihab Nye

“Black Map”

寒鴉終於拼湊成
夜﹕黑色地圖
我回來了—歸程
總是比迷途長
長於一生

— 北岛 “黑色地图”

in the end, cold crows piece together
the night: a black map
I’ve come home—the way back
longer than the wrong road
long as a life

— Bei Dao (translated by Eliot Weinberger)