Birthdays

My elders
all clearly remember
how many teeth their cows and sheep
have lost
but don’t know which day their sons and daughters’ birthdays
are on

In Liangshan
cows and sheep are the elders’ banknotes
are their bricks for weighing fortunes
Compared to the age of their cows and sheep
the children’s birthdays
are trifles not worth mentioning

But I have to remember my son’s birthday
because now the cows and sheep
are few

Occasionally thinking of them________it’s best to
take those bills penned up in my pocket
and rush off to the pastures of the countryside
to while away withdrawal

Azhuo Wulin 阿卓务林 - Yi poet from China's southwest
from Heaven in my Ears