SELECTED POEMS by MEIFU WANG ;
These poems were written in Chinese or English and translated into English or Chinese by the author.
To be continued...
- by Meifu Wang
- The dirt road and I, we resemble each other —
- not very modern, nor durable.
- In a camera lens, you will see us through a yellow haze.
- If you wish to follow the road to the sea,
- it will take a morning and an afternoon on foot,
- but there is always a charming fragrance along the way,
- and when I close my eyes, I hear footsteps and wingbeats
- in groups of threes and fives, lively and light,
- a chorus in the air, like music on wings
- that lifts me out of despair.
- I would listen to it in the morning.
- I would listen to it in the afternoon.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 我和腳前的土路有點相似，
- 沒什麽現代元素，使不出多少力氣，
- 面對照相機，總會蒙上一圈黃暈；
- 如果想去欣賞那心愛的，婆娑的椰林，
- 還得徒步一個早晨又一個下午，
- 可是它總是散發出迷人的芳馥。
- 每當我閉上眼睛，就聽見腳步——
- 三五成群，輕快，靈活，腳步的合唱，
- 就像乘載歌聲的翅膀——於是我不再絕望，
- 也許那時正是早晨，或是黃昏。
- by Meifu Wang
- Water droplets
- leap off the fall,
- crash onto the cliff wall,
- bellyflopping
- down a starless hollow.
- Winged angels, water droplets,
- awaken me from a dream
- with an azalea
- receiving mist
- at the bottom of the gorge.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 水珠
- 跳离瀑布
- 冲向山岩
- 穿过我身体的深渊
- 像天使 长了翅膀
- 在头顶上空 飞翔
- 我的心 如梦初醒
- 见杜鹃如璟
- 在河谷
- 接住水珠
- by Meifu Wang
- The thing that skedaddled over the hills
- almost losing its clogs and coat,
- the thing that's older than all dreams and memories,
- with an ancient vibe but untold ancestry,
- unlike the airships over our same aqueous earth
- with sleek logos for all to see.
- The uninstrumented and unscripted thingy
- that came before all airships,
- whatchamacallit:
- that life-size dream-like thingy,
- who almost lost its boots on the run,
- that was born from the wind,
- have you heard it howling, tapping, susurrating,
- asking about the innermost of you?
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 它健步如飛，一骨碌已翻越群山崇嶺，
- 連腳上的靴子身上的大衣都幾乎穿不住。
- 它非常有底蘊，比人類的夢境和記憶更遠古，
- 卻有不為人知的身世。
- 不像那些飛翔於同一個五湖四海之上的飛艇，
- 它沒有顯目的標誌。
- 那個不用現代儀器、沒有腳本，
- 先於所有飛艇，如夢似幻、炯炯有神，
- 那個叫什麼來著的玩意兒。
- 它健步如飛，連腳上的靴子身上的大衣都幾乎穿不住，
- 聽說它的祖宗與風雲有過瓜葛，
- 你是否聽見了它在呼嘯，它在輕敲，在絮絮低語，
- 在探索你內心深處的秘密？
- by Meifu Wang
- You walk into my dream
- wobbly with a broken wing.
- I see snow falling and summer fleeting
- and fear you will be trapped by the frigid sea.
- The arctic has no autumn.
- The woeful sight of you
- forces me to turn my face away
- I close my eyes, trusting the proverb:
- "Time is the healer" and time flies
- whilst we sleep.
- But as soon as I fall asleep,
- the sound of rustle-stumbles awakens me,
- therefore I open my eyes and attend to you.
- "Be brave, a mother's heart isn't made of wood.” I tell myself.
- I cuddle you with my wrinkly arms...
- Until... suddenly...
- it dawns on me
- that you are the premum mobile of time,
- a prince in disguise —
- your wingbeats keep the river flowing.
- So I lay my head down. I shut my eyes
- and embrace the night,
- relieved to know that
- time can't fly away
- whilst I sleep.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 你走進我的夢鄉，
- 搖搖晃晃,拖著無力的翅膀。
- 窗外雪花飄落，我知道夏天轉瞬即逝，
- 怕的是大海解凍之前你無法南飛。
- 北極沒有秋天。
- 我不忍心你可憐的模樣，
- 卻深感無能為力，只想背你而去。
- 我閉上雙眼，期待老諺語有它的真諦：
- “時間是治癒一切的良藥“，
- 但願時光在我們沉睡之時飛逝。
- 然而我才入夢，
- 就被窸窸窣窣跌跌撞撞的聲音驚醒，
- 睜開雙眼，我提醒自己：
- “勇敢一點，母愛難道是木頭做的？”
- 我決心守護你，以皺紋的雙臂把你摟住…
- 直到我
- 恍然大悟
- 原來你是主宰時間的巨手，
- 是偽裝出門的王子，
- 只有你的翱翔能帶動河流。
- 於是我輕拍枕頭，和衣躺下，
- 且讓我閉上雙眼，擁抱深夜，
- 願夢悠揚，
- 也慶幸
- 時光不會在我沈睡的時候展翅而飛。
- by Meifu Wang
- I knew you were with me only as a phantom,
- but we spent a beautiful day walking and talking.
- I kept telling myself how beautiful it was to see you again.
- I knew you came to me as a phantom,
- but I said if your phantom brought me such joy
- that I couldn't tell the difference between the two joys
- — one from being with the living you, and the other with the phantom you —
- why should this joy be less than the other joy?
- Why shouldn't this phantom world be my choice world?
- But I knew all along when I was with you,
- while you held my hand and we strolled in the garden,
- that you were speaking to me as a phantom.
- Therefore I dreaded the moment when you had to go
- like Hamlet’s father in Shakespeare’s play.
- We meandered before coming by a long house,
- where a row of cherry trees lined its loggia
- and held up the dusky sky with their sturdy silhouette.
- I took a step into a twilit sanctuary room.
- I needed to step away for a minute
- for I didn't want you to see my weary heart;
- I was dreading the moment when you had to leave.
- The door of the sanctuary room closed behind me,
- separating me from you and the cherry trees.
- But hardly was I inside and you outside
- when I sobbed: “Ah, how I have been sad since you left!”
- My tears transported you back to me there and then.
- You held my face up and spoke to me:
- “Yes, I know you have been sad.”
- I looked at you and said: “I don't want you to leave.”
- You let my head rest on your shoulder, and said: “I know.”
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 我知道身邊的你只是一個幻影，
- 但今天我們一起散步聊天，我對自己說：
- 能再一次與你相會我是多麼的開心！
- 我知道身邊的你只是一個靈魂，
- 但有你在我的身邊我是多麼的快樂！
- 我心中滿滿的喜悅叫我不能分辯
- 人間的你與靈界的你有甚麼不同。
- 那麼今日的喜悅怎會不如往日的喜悅？
- 今日的重逢怎麼會不如不見？
- 這個幻影的世界怎不是我心愛的世界？
- 但我知道，我知道身邊的你，
- 在花園裡牽著我的手陪我款款談心的你
- 只是一個幻影，
- 於是我怕你很快就要離開，
- 像哈姆雷特的父親從莎士比亞的劇場消失。
- 走著走著我們來到一間長廂房，
- 廂房的拱廊邊種了一排櫻桃樹，
- 它們的樹幹在黃昏裡顯得特別粗壯。
- 我緊走一步進入房內，
- 不讓你看出我的憂傷：
- 我擔心你很快就要告別。
- 今天相聚，我要為你戴上笑容。
- 進了長屋，我把木門拉上，
- 把你和櫻桃樹留在屋外，
- 然當你一下不在跟前，我就哭了，對自己說：
- “從你離開那天，我一直是多麼的傷心！”
- 但我的淚水把你喚回眼前，
- 你的手托著我的臉，對我說
- “我明白你的憂傷。”
- 我抬起頭來對你說：“我的心不忍你的離別。”
- 你讓我的臉依著你的肩膀，說，“我都明白。”
- by Meifu Wang
- Right, I didn’t give you a proper burial,
- not even was I there to see you off on the last day.
- Is that the reason why, on this dark night,
- when wind blows from left and right and front and back,
- that you fly zigzag, descending halfway from the sky
- to disturb this tropical night?
- But you know I have always loved you, and declared my love for you
- every hour and every minute while you were living,
- so why can't you feel at peace?
- I would if I were a dog or someone so akin to the human spirit.
- Yes, once or twice I didn’t pay attention
- to how I prepared your meal —
- potato and meat mixed in a bowl set aside for your return.
- But that day you didn’t return.
- Then, there were human quarrels that drove you into hiding.
- You leered at the pale-green faces — faces so familiar —
- but, together you and I drove them away.
- Tonight, on this tropical avenue, someone is singing about an eagle;
- I ask if she indeed has seen an eagle or perhaps she has seen you.
- A few spirits are floating among the shadows of giant banyan trees
- the way jazz music floating out
- from many corners of this post-colonial city,
- with walled-in courtyards, cafés in deep alleys,
- some non-native souls, the same as mine,
- in and out of this dark night, in and out of these dimly-lit streets,
- in and out of my half-native consciousness.
- Then, suddenly you fly zigzag from dog heaven,
- halfway between earth and sky,
- to remind me that I didn’t give you a proper burial.
- I can dismiss the ghosts that come down to chastise me,
- I will even greet them with a humble smile
- just to tell the world once more that I haven’t forgotten you,
- but this darkishness, this windiness, and the foreignness of this city
- will forever remain in my mind — on these very broad avenues,
- where spirits hang out among giant banyan trees
- by walled-in courtyards, and jazz music from deep alleys.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
- (Taipei, 2008)
-
- 王美富
- 是的,我沒有為你舉行隆重的葬禮,
- 就是你走的那天我也遠在天邊。
- 難道這就是為什麼在這個昏黑之夜，
- 當輕風與狂風從四面八方呼嘯而至，
- 你從空中乘風而降,
- 打擾這個亞熱帶島上的一片空寂？
- 可是你知道,當你還在的日子,
- 當你還在的每一分每一秒，
- 我都在向世界宣告我對祢的愛，
- 那為什麼你還不願意安息呢？
- 如果我也是一隻狗,曾經體會過人間的情誼，
- 我一定會感到滿足的。
- 的確,有過那麼一兩次，
- 我沒有用心為你準備吃的，
- 把馬鈴薯和骨頭隨便拌在一起，
- 但是那一天你沒有回來。
- 有時人們的爭執嚇到你跑去躲在角落,
- 清澈的眼瞳盯著青綠的臉，
- 就像天上的火把照出無以言喻的卑鄙，
- 何況是那麼熟悉的面孔，
- 可是你和我,我們一起把他們驅逐盡淨。
- 今夜,在這條暖洋洋的大街，
- 有人在淺淺的唱,在唱一首訴說老鷹的歌。
- 我問她是不是真的看見老鷹，
- 也許她看見的是你。
- 在這條街上,我還看見古人的靈魂
- 在老樹之間悠遊自如,
- 也聽到浪漫的爵士樂從角落飄出。
- 在這個被殖民過的城市，
- 街上有幾戶人家還圍著矮牆,深巷裡有咖啡屋，
- 還有那些半洋化的人群，和我也不盡是兩回事，
- 若隱若現,出現在如斯的夜裡，
- 若隱若現,出現在昏暗的小巷裡，
- 若隱若現,出現在這個亞熱帶的島嶼，
- 也出沒在我不再純粹鄉土的意識裡。
- 而就在這時，
- 你從空中狗的天堂翩翩而至，
- 埋怨我沒有給你一個隆重的葬禮。
- 我可以委婉地打發走那個不請自來的面具，
- 也願意把他挽留,為的是表明我從來沒有忘記你，
- 但是這深深的夜晚,這狂野的風,
- 這個有點陌生的城市,
- 將會永遠的留在我的腦海裡。
- 啊，島上有鬱鬱桑桑的菩提樹，
- 粗壯的樹幹之間有留戀人間的靈魂，
- 街角有陪伴矮牆的綠竹，
- 深巷的咖啡屋傳來叫人心酸的歌曲。
- Each sunrise reunited our spirits even when our legs faltered
- until one day you closed your eyes unawakenably.
- Have you returned to earth so I may fall deeper in love with it?
- Have you joined Mr. Lawrence’s herd of dolphins in God’s wordless love?
- We are two tributaries of the same river,
- but you reached the sea before me.
- Aye, from the foredeck of the Ship of Life,
- I raise the moonsail for you and the simple thing called Love.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 日出把我們的心再一次融合，雖然我們的腳步已經蹣跚，
- 直到有一天，你合起雙眼，從此不再醒轉。
- 你是否回歸宇宙的懷抱，叫我夜夜思慕？
- 你是否加入了勞倫斯先生的鲸魚群裡，陶醉於無言的大愛之中？
- 我們是同一條大河的兩個支流，
- 但你比我早一步抵達大海。
- 啊，且讓我登上生命之船的樓台，
- 以愛的名義為你升起月帆。
- by Meifu Wang
- You speak to me. You speak to me
- in a most seductive voice.
- not that I don’t dream of your love,
- not that I don’t adore every word of yours,
- but your voice churns up a hailstorm of echoes
- that blast open the gates of hell —
- They pour in from all directions:
- a motorcycle skidding across the asphalt road,
- a screeching head under the blazing sun,
- red roosters in a fighting ring,
- a tidy garden next to the hospital morgue.
- The walls are no longer useful barriers.
- You speak to me. You speak to me in verse,
- lifting my spirit from the river of gloom,
- therefore even in sleep, I feel the hour's soft breeze
- and hear music from a multiverse away,
- from the metaphysical world where you are.
- But I turn sleepless again at dawn
- as your sweet voice returns with cavernous disquiet:
- cold silence in the skulled church,
- blue-green ghost nets adrift at sea,
- ducks in New Year's market,
- spawning salmon in Upper Snake River...
- Then, I remember you are dead, too.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 你對我說，柔言細語地說，
- 說到我如醉如癡。然而
- 死亡的迴響从四方湧来，
- 就是你的詩歌与情誼
- 也不能抵擋来自陰間的呼吼。
- 它們已衝破死靈魂的闸口。
- 死亡的迴響來自四面八方：
- 急剎車切過柏油路面，
- 炎陽下某人在戻聲嘶喊，
- 深掩的鬥雞場羽毛與血光四濺，
- 殯儀館邊一排排整潔的花園。
- 人間的溫柔鄉防不勝防。
- 你對我說，柔言細語地說，
- 說到我眼皮沈重，如幻似夢，
- 仿佛有天使的翅膀隨身撫慰，
- 仿佛有歌聲來自遙遠的天邊，
- 那個屬於你的，無邊無際的精神的世界。
- 天亮之前，我再次驚醒，再次融入你詩歌的世界，
- 不料陰間的迴響竟從四方湧來：
- 噴射飛機正在撕破藍色的天空，
- 陰冷的教堂裡頭顱砌起的灰牆，
- 平静的大海中大洞小洞的魚網，
- 春節的菜場鐵籠裡的鴨子，
- 清淺的溪流裡滿腹爛斑的鮭魚，
- 我才想起，原來你也已經死去。。
- by Meifu Wang
- I go, far away from home,
- with scattered thoughts trailing
- (ah, my winsome sidekick).
- Roving till dusk, I need not raise my head
- to see heaven’s curtain close.
- Suddenly he arrives,
- more abruptly than the night,
- soaring from the deep blue sea,
- using huge talons to stay the earth.
- He lives in the sea, the wild roaring sea.
- He hangs tight as the Earth spins,
- and turns his face to the rain and the wind.
- Consider how quietly my thoughts come and go,
- my days, likewise, waft to and fro.
- The sky sleeps in the bosom of the sea,
- and I hear his drunken snore,
- dark, now, and deep,
- gentle, then, and soft,
- asking me:
- must you live thinking life is brief?
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 我寄居旅途，
- 散漫的臆想像小書僮悄悄跟上。
- 無須抬頭，已見低垂的天幕。
- 他，來得比夜更突兀；
- 他，屹立於深海之中；
- 他，用巨爪扣住地球。
- 在冰冷的海裡，在墨綠的海裡，
- 他肩骨嶙峋，背負坎坷的命運，
- 與地球一起旋轉；是他在擋駕風雨。
- 臆想悄悄地來，悄悄地去，
- 我的日子也同樣飄忽。
- 天睡在海的胸脯，我聽見他的酣聲，
- 深沉且溫柔，
- 告訴我：不必在意人生的短暫。
- by Meifu Wang
- The day plods on, driving an overtired donkey cart,
- as I slowly grow impatient with the setting sun
- that malingers long after waving goodbye
- and continues to sprinkle gold dust at whim,
- flooding my chamber with an orangish hue.
- But all that I do is waiting for you,
- knowing you will come, merging with the dark.
- You are not one of those who adore sunny days,
- looking to show off your silver and gold.
- You are not in the company of brash flowers
- that flirt with honey bees
- in constant talk of love.
- But I am waiting for you,
- knowing you will be here, merging with the dark.
- Alone without the sun, the sky is at her best
- for the northern lights to drop in for a gallivant.
- You will be here, oh, Mighty Shadow.
- You will be here, in the charming shade of the night.
- Oh, night, deep as the sea,
- I answer your call, deep as the sea.
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 時間像蹉跎的騾馬車走著拖著
- 我開始對夕陽失去耐心
- 它揮手告別 卻慢條斯理
- 順便把耀眼的金光撒滿水面
- 彩霞也毫不遲疑地跨進窗戶
- 但是我在等你
- 知道你將與夜晚一起來臨
- 你和街上的那一夥不同
- 他們愛戀白日
- 依賴日光照亮金色銀色的衣裳
- 如朵朵嬌豔的花
- 歡迎青頭的蜜蜂四面圍舞
- 在艷陽下談戀愛
- 但是我在等你
- 等你來了 宇宙就煥然一新
- 北極光在太陽沉睡以後的天空飛旋
- 你魁梧的身材 是黑夜的魅影
- 啊 夜深如海
- 我對你的愛也深如大海。
- by Meifu Wang
- Now that you are in the sky,
- all things all around emanate a blue luminance
- as if soaking up your starlight.
- When I was a child by the pond, water lilies’ leaves
- also looked blue under dragonflies’ gossamer wings,
- a similar kind of magical. No wonder
- tonight River Thames flows like a dream,
- hypnotising the mist and the bridge lights.
- A sapphire glow reigns over the stone castle
- and the giddy commercial edifices nearby.
- We used to stroll down Shad Thames’ cobbled streets
- through erstwhile tea and spice cloisters and gantries
- before arriving at London Bridge Station, where the sallow pipe organ
- would fill the grand foyer with her dulcet rapture
- when touched by a fortuitous lover.
- Your ambling gait added a lightness to the river,
- whose phantom docks repose abreast ocean’s heartbeat
- as the tide rushes under St Saviour’s Bridge
- into the lost river of Neckinger, where I lift my gaze
- at the blue luminance over the city’s gamesome skyline.
- *OneOne: Yorkshire Terrier (2011-2024)
- Written and Translated by Meifu Wang
-
- 王美富
- 你回到天上以後，
- 萬物被你的星光籠罩，
- 沐浴在藍色的光芒裡。
- 兒時，池塘邊睡蓮的綠葉
- 在蜻蜓的薄翼下也呈現藍色，
- 有同樣的魅力。正因如此，
- 今晚的泰晤士河如夢似幻，
- 卷卷薄霧與橋墩的燈火也如夢似幻。
- 藍光籠罩著古老的城堡，
- 也籠罩著妙趣無窮的商業大廈。
- 我們喜歡泰晤士河畔，走過蜿蜒的
- 板石街道，穿過老糧倉改造的樓宇，
- 就到了倫敦大橋火車站。車站的大廳，
- 每逢有琴手光臨，黃銅色的管風琴
- 就發出狂喜之音，激盪著我們的心。
- 你悠閒的步伐為這永恆的河流增添一抹神秘，
- 老碼頭貼著大海的胸脯，傾聽它的心跳，
- 潮水奔湧，流過聖主橋，流進
- 一去不返的內金格河，在那兒，我抬頭
- 仰望，見藍光灑落於倫敦的天際線。
