THE BEER BOTTLE-TOP Poem by Yu Jian

unsure how to address it it was still sitting at the head of the table only a moment ago

the custodian of a bottle of stout absolutely indispensable it has a sense of its own status

signifying conviviality as the sun goes down and the depth of froth in a glass

opened with a pop at the start of the evening meal the action strikingly similar to that of a bullfrog

the waiter even believes that it really is a frog

believes that something on this table covered with cooked food has unexpectedly been brought back to life

he is vexed by his misunderstanding and immediately shifts his attention to a toothpick

he is the last one after him the world gives it no further thought

with no other entries on it in the dictionary no original meanings extended meanings transferred meanings

but those dishes originally arranged in submission before it signify nothing less than the flavours of Sichuan cuisine

the napkin is touched by the hand of a general the roses in full bloom an allusion to privilege

in an eccentric arc it exited this gathering an arc not its own

the brewery never designed such a line for its product

it now lies on the floor with the cigarette butts footprints bones and other rubbish

an unrelated jumble an impromptu design of no use to anyone

but its plight is even more wretched a butt reminds the world of a slob

a bone brings to mind a dog or a cat and footprints of course allude to a human presence

it is waste its whiteness being nothing more than its whiteness and its shape nothing more than its shape

it falls beyond the reach of our adjectives

I wasn't a drinker then it was I who opened the bottle of beer

and for this reason I noticed its strange leap its simple disappearance

I suddenly tried to imagine the pop it made jumping out into space but was unable to

mine was the body of an author of a collection of poetry and sixty kilograms of corporeal existence

all I did was bend down and pick up this alluring small white object

it was hard with a serrated rim which cut into my finger

and made me feel a sharpness so unlike that of knives