21, Cold after the rain
There’s a glass pane in the restaurant facing the street. The people sitting inside can see a middle-aged man walking past slowly. He turns his head to one side, and casts a slanting glance inside. From the outside one can see a man sitting in a compartment seat staring out the window.
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Outside the delivery van is unloading soft drink. Women, who bought groceries, carry baskets passing by. A Pakistani with a turban also walks by. It’s busy in the street, and crowded, the road is wet after the rain. The humid feeling indoors is the lamp light reflected in the glass of water that is half-empty.
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People outside can’t hear the gentle music inside. People inside can’t feel the cold after the rain.
21 雨後的寒意
餐室有一副玻璃，對着大街。坐在裡面的人，看見外面一個中年男子緩緩走過，側着頭，斜斜地往裡面睨一眼，在外面走過的，看見裡面卡座位上一個男子，呆呆地望着外面。
外面汽水車正卸下汽水。買菜的婦人，挽著籃子走過，一個纏着頭的巴基斯坦人走過。路上熱鬧、擠擁，下過雨的地面，濕漉漉的。室內的濕意，是燈光反映在喝剩的半杯水上。
外面的人，聽不見裡面輕柔的音樂。裡面的人，不知道外面雨後的寒意。
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● Ye Si, pen name of Leung Ping Kwan (1949-2013), is a celebrated Hong Kong poet, essayist, fiction writer and photographer. He has published many volumes of poetry, essays and stories, including: Paper Cuts (1982), City at the End of Time (1992), Foodscape (1997), Travelling with a Bitter Melon (2002), Postcards from Prague (2000) and Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (2009). He was Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Centre for Humanities Research at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.
● Audrey Heijns, based in Hong Kong, is working at Shenzhen University. Her translations of Chinese literature have been published in literary magazines, including Het Trage Vuur, Twee Ronde, KortVerhaal, Terras, Renditions, Exchanges and Poetry International.
Photograph: Rainy Mong Kok (Audrey Heijns)
Chinaman Creek 