Hong Kong Malady
頭痛是一種絕症
看醫生也不過給三天必你痛
捱到OK店買
必你痛所有產品本週九折
還有藥盒鎖匙扣送
你要不要多買多送
對空氣過份敏感就是病
自小在公共屋邨就有
頭痛發熱
鼻水眼水四肢乏力
呼吸困難
整個人被一團厠紙塞著
躺在床上作古仔不想起來
不想起來十六年
然後是對食物過敏
疴疴嘔嘔
起來都是上厠所
捱到搬離這叫香港的盒子
我的敏感自動麻木下來
健康原來是一種麻木
對世界沒有
強烈的厭惡
不需要掙扎的存在
身體原來不掙扎便快樂
懷著平和的心
在白天與黃昏之間
陽光射在紅磚上不熾烈
不特別感到活著是難
在香港
我從沒健康過
懊惱納悶的心情大量發售
難怪寫作
A headache is a kind of terminal disease
the doctor won’t prescribe more than three days’ worth of Panadol
so you drag your ass to Circle K
where Panadol products are 10% off
and come with free keychains
the more you buy the more freebies you get
Being too sensitive to the air is a malady
growing up in a public housing project, I had
headaches fevers
a runny nose watery eyes weak limbs
and difficulty breathing
I was stuffed with toilet paper
I’d lie in bed making up stories, reluctant to get up
this lasted sixteen years
Next it was the food
I’d vomit all night
and only get up to use the toilet
When I finally managed to
escape this box called Hong Kong
my sensitivities became numb
health comes down to being insensitive
to being indifferent
to the world
the body is happy when it’s not putting up a fight
when you’re at ease
between daylight and darkness
when the sunlit bricks aren’t scorching hot
being alive doesn’t seem that hard
In Hong Kong
I have never been healthy
I peddle boredom and irritation wholesale
no wonder I write
_____
Yau Ching. “香港病” from 不可能的家 The Impossible Home. Hong Kong: dirty press, 2000.

Chenxin Jiang translates from Chinese, German, and Italian. Recent translations include Tears of Salt: A Doctor's Story by Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta (Norton), and The Cowshed: Memories of the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Ji Xianlin (NYRB). She is currently translating poems by Yau Ching and Jiang Hao.