Hybrid: “DIY MISTRANSLATIONS OF FAYE WONG’S ‘NI KUAI LE (SUO YI WO KUAI LE)’” by Shay X. Gee

VERSE 1:
Your [dawn, place name] opens
So I [to peel with a knife, laughed]
Your [spectacle, an old name for beijing] reddened
My [sky, heaven] is [to be possible, a mouth inside a mouth]

CHORUS:
Oh! [sky, heaven] knows,
The fact is, if you’re
[sharp (of knives and wit)] Then I’m
[a rush, stream, to have passion for]
Roses are all [to bloom, to open, to finish]
[i, me, my] [still, still in progress]
What more could i want
[to seek, to demand, to pursue stubbornly]
Something [must not, not to be allowed]
[to have me] [to repeat, to follow the same road as]
[to capsize, your mistakes]

LA LA LA LA . . .
LA LA LA LA . . .

VERSE 2:
You [awake, to feel] [to resemble]
So I [river, to lie down]

REPEAT CHORUS:

LA LA LA LA . . .
LA LA LA LA . . .

OUTRO:
Don’t ask why
[i, me, my] Feel
[peace, satisfied]

About Shay X. Gee

Shay X. Gee is a first-generation Hoisan-Chinese poet, writer, and library worker, born and raised in San Francisco. Their poetry collection about fungi, grief, and cyborgs, Mushrooms at the E-Grave, was published by Ghost City Press, 2021. They’re born in the year of the tiger. Find Shay at shayxgee.com.