Transformed Creatures
By Liu Xia
Translated by Jennifer Stern and
Ming Di
You have a strange pet —
one eye is a cat’s, the other a sheep’s.
Yet, it won’t socialize with felines,
will attack any flock.
On moonlit nights,
it wanders on the roof.
When you’re alone
it will lie in your lap
preoccupied, slowly studying you
until — on its face — a challenge.
Translated from the Chinese
Source:
Poetry
(November 2014)