Tony Barnstone Reading “Home Brew”
Home Brew
by Tony Barnstone
He never drank a lick before the war
but he came back a fall-down drunk. He said
they’d cook up home brew from potatoes or
from fruit and then get bombed among the dead.
He started slapping me around, and changed
to someone moaning to himself at night,
oh God, oh mom, a silent man, deranged
inside, his spirit bottled up. One night
last year I woke up with his hands around
my throat. His mouth was moving. He was dreaming.
I thumbed him in the eyes till he came round
and when he understood he broke down weeping.
He put his medals in a box. It’s done,
he said, and got a drink. It wasn’t done.
(from Tongue of War)
家制酿酒
战前,他滴酒不沾,
回来却成了醉鬼。他说
他们用土豆或水果酿酒,
然后在死人堆里灌死自己。
他开始煽我嘴巴,而且变成
一个夜晚自个呻吟的人,
哦上帝,哦母亲。一个寡言的人,
彻底错乱,精神瓶装。去年
一天晚上,我醒来后发现他的手
掐住我喉咙。他的嘴在动。他在做梦。
我殴他眼睛,直到他清醒过来。
清醒后他痛哭了一场,
把奖章放进一个盒子。“就此了结,”
他说,又喝了一杯。永无了结。
(选自诗集《战争之舌》)
Translated into Chinese by Ming Di
托尼•巴恩斯通(Tony Barnstone),美国当代诗人,60后。1984-85年同父亲威利斯•巴恩斯通(美国著名诗人、学者、翻译)一起在北京外国语学院执教,后返回伯克利加州大学完成文学创作硕士和英文文学博士学位,目前是洛杉矶一家私立大学惠蒂尔学院(Whittier College)英文系教授,创建了写作班、文学节、驻校作家等项目。出版的个人诗集包括《污染:托尼•巴恩斯通的诗》(1998),小诗册《赤裸裸的魔术》(2002),有关离婚经历的《悲哀爵士乐:十四行》(2005),《洛杉矶魔像》(2007),有关第二次世界大战的《战争之舌》(2009),《占卜十四行〉(待出),《低俗十四行》(待出),《埃及的黑暗》(待出)。《污染》进入惠特曼诗歌奖决赛,《洛杉矶魔像》获得本杰明•索特曼诗歌奖,《战争之舌》获得约翰•西阿迪诗歌奖。托尼还获得过普希卡诗歌奖、聂鲁达诗歌奖、以及2008年斯特罗克镇国际诗歌节诗歌奖第一名。编写过教科书《亚洲文学》(2002)、《中东文学》、《亚非拉文学从古至今》(1998)。编辑、合作翻译的中国诗歌书籍包括《空山拾笑语——王维诗选》(1991)、《暴风雨中呼啸而出——中国新诗》(1993)、《写作艺术:中国大师语录》(1996)、《安克辞典:中国诗》(2005)、《中国情诗》(2007)。
巴恩斯通访谈——参见《诗东西》创刊号 Interview with Tony Barnstone by Poetry East West
Great poem. Thanks very much for sharing!