About Datui: Datui (the Chinese word for thigh) is an anonymous internet poet whose work circulates in hidden corners of the internet in China, on movie review sites, blogs, and forums. It is thought that the author is a doctor in Shanghai.
For the small subculture of readers who share Datui’s poems, her work represents the language of real people, unpolluted by state propaganda. I first read a poem of hers that was posted as a review of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds in 2010, on the Chinese equivalent of Letterboxd. The poem describes how Nazi soldiers would draw destroyed enemy tanks on their own tank barrels, and it ends with her suggesting that men get analogous tattoos (i.e. other dicks, vaginas) on their dicks. The post has since been deleted by state censors. - Soyonbo Borjgin, translator.
1 Shoot my penis
When I get to execution square
I ask the police
To shoot my penis
Because
It’s my brain
2 Trust in Datui
Trust TV. Trust the washing machine. Trust KFC. Trust 110.
Trust the computer. Trust Super Girl. Trust Rao Ying. Trust love.
Trust cigarettes. Trust porn. Trust tabloids. Trust virgins. Trust condoms. Trust lies.
Trust your friends. Trust hemorrhoid cream. Trust coffee. Trust jeans. Trust acne. Trust liars. Trust police officers.
Trust AIDS. Trust prison. Trust orgasms. Trust your dick. Trust whores.
Trust online dating. Trust 120. Trust QQ. Trust unemployment. Trust masturbation.
Trust May Fourth. Trust one night stands. Trust penis enhancement. Trust bank robberies. Trust Niu Bi.
Trust a man of the world. Trust instant fame. Trust pistols.
Trust affairs. Trust Instant Noodle. Trust 8-minute speed dating. Trust Viagra. Trust rapists.
Trust Zhao Lihua. Trust thongs. Trust artificial beauty. Trust Erguotou. Trust the glans. Trust wrinkle removal.
Trust heroin. Trust Yu Ting. Trust adult stores.
Trust that all of this is fake.
Place your Trust in Datui.
[1] 110 is the number for police in China. [2] Super Girl is a TV show that is similar to American Idols. [3] Rao Ying is a TV host on Chinese Central Television, famous for her BDSM activity. [4] 120 is the number for ambulances in China. [5] QQ is a chat program in China, similar to Messenger. [6] May Fourth was an anti-imperialist political movement in 20th century China. [7] Niu bi literally means “Cow’s Vagina”, and is a popular slang phrase, meaning “Super Cool”. [8] Zhao Li Hua is a contemporary poet who was embroiled in a sex scandal. [9] Erguotou is a kind of baijiu wine favored by workers. [10] Yu Ting is an abortion pill.
3 “The phone is already in my pussy”
I set my phone to vibrate
I send you a message saying
I put my phone in my pussy
You call my phone like crazy
Vibrating again and again
So that I achieve
Unprecedented Climax
4 State Security
Come to Beijing
Tiananmen Square
And you will see
The monument to the People’s Heroes
Standing there
I always feel
That it’s a dick
The dick of Beijing
The dick of the state
High
Thick
Majestic
Standing right there.
As I touch the condom in my pocket
I wonder
If I can put it on the monument
So
My country
Will be safe
5 Fuck me
Fuck me
If you have money
But if you don't have money
Don’t even think about it
Even if you’re Chairman Mao.
