These are unusual times. These poets are tale-tellers of their world.                  (All rights reserved.)

SELECTED POEMS by MEIFU WANG (王美富 詩選) ;

These poems were written either in Chinese or English originally and translated into the other language by the author.

This website is maintained and funded entirely by the editor as a labour of love. Please send all enquiries regarding 21st Century Chinese Poetry to Meifu Wang at: editor@modernchinesepoetry.com

To be continued...

DIRT ROAD

  • 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

土路

  • 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。

WATER DROPLETS

  • 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

水珠

  • 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

WINDBORNE

  • by Meifu Wang

  • The thing that skedaddled over the hills
  • almost losing its clogs,
  • the thing that's older than dreams and memories,
  • with an ancient vibe but untold ancestry,
  • unlike the airships over the 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

風兒

  • 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?

SONG OF SLEEP

  • 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 kept by the frigid sea.
  • The arctic has no autumn.
  • The sorry 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 rustles awakens me,
  • therefore I open my eyes and tend to you.
  • "Be brave, a mother's heart isn't made of wood.” I tell myself.
  • I cuddle you in my wrinkly arms...
  • Until... suddenly...
  • it dawns on me
  • that you are the prime mover of time,
  • a prince in disguise —
  • your wingbeats keep the river flowing.
  • So I lay my head on the pillow. I shut my eyes
  • and embrace the night,
  • relieved to know that
  • time cannot fly away
  • whilst I sleep.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

夢悠揚

  • 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。

TO FATHER

  • 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

父親

  • 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。”

DIRGE

  • 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, some native souls in virtual exile,
  • 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 descend to chastise me,
  • I would even greet them with the humblest 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)

輓歌

  • 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。

READING BAUDELAIRE INTO THE NIGHT

  • 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 over 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

夜讀波特萊爾

  • 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。

SEA CRAG

  • 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

海岩

  • 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。

TO MELVILLE

  • 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 wait 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 finest
  • 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

致梅尔维尔

  • 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。

THE SIMPLE THING CALLED LOVE ( Fragment from Monody )

  • by Meifu Wang

  • Each sunrise rejoined our hearts 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 the simple thing called Love.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

以愛的名義 (選自 驪歌)

  • 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,陶醉於無言的大愛之中?
  • 我們是同一條大河的兩條支流,
  • 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。

LONDON BLUES ( Fragment from Monody )

  • 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 whirling 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 through St Saviour’s Bridge
  • into the lost river of Neckinger, where I lift my eyes to heaven,
  • enthralled by the blue luminance over the city’s gamesome skyline.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

倫敦藍調——致愛犬 (選自 驪歌)

  • 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。

WHITE CRANE ( Fragment from Monody )

  • by Meifu Wang

  • Thinking about your final days,
  • I ask myself:
  • Have your feathers grown thinner?
  • Do your shoulders hang heavier?
  • Do the fishes swim by faster?
  • I dream that you will always be white
  • without a speck of dirt.
  • But even heaven is made of more than purity,
  • no wonder your snowy-white body is melting,
  • showing a blotch of salt pink on your chest.
  • Gone are the wispy curls on your wingtips.
  • Still, on this October day, your eyes are mist free,
  • like the open sky in the last days
  • of an ideal autumn.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

白鶴 (選自 驪歌)

  • 王美富

  • 在生命的最後一段旅程,
  • 我想請問:
  • 你是否感覺羽毛漸漸稀疏?
  • 你是否感覺翅膀日益沉重?
  • 眼前的魚兒是否游得更快?
  • 我一直以為你一生一世潔白無瑕,
  • 然而仔細想想,
  • 就是天堂也不是百分之百的純潔,
  • 難怪你的雪白也要融化,
  • 突然胸膛出現了一抹粉紅的鹽漬,
  • 尾羽也不再白雲裊繞。
  • 然而,在十月的這一天,
  • 你的眼神明澈如鏡,
  • 如深秋走進初冬的那種萬里晴空。

WILDWOODS ( Fragment from Monody )

  • by Meifu Wang

  • We walked into the wildwoods
  • to listen to their susurration.
  • On somnolent autumn days,
  • we go too,
  • to soak up their golden mood.
  • Transfixed by their kaleidoscopic vein
  • and the birds’ cheery play, I thought
  • eternity had come to rest on my shoulder.
  • Still, amongst all permutations of beauty,
  • nothing transcends your spirit.
  • Once again we come to the wildwoods —-
  • my same old self with you on my mind.
  • By a camellia tree blooming white,
  • I watch a flock of goldfinches fly by mirthfully,
  • and see you in their company.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

野林 (選自 驪歌)

  • 王美富

  • 盛夏的野林婆娑摇曳,
  • 走,咱們一起去。
  • 在思遠的秋季,我们還去,
  • 融入它金色的气息裡。
  • 叢林的姿態千变万化,
  • 令我心醉神迷,
  • 耳邊還有鸟儿的啁啾,
  • 我恍然以為永恆就棲息在我的肩膀。
  • 然身邊數不盡出奇的美景,
  • 沒有一個比得上你的精神。
  • 我们又一起回到這個野林 ——
  • 还是那个我,以及心中的你。
  • 野林裡,有棵山茶树沾滿晶瑩的露水,
  • 上上下下雪白的花朵,我正讚嘆。
  • 瞬時有金雀圍舞,
  • 我一回頭,看見了你在他們之中。

PINK AND GRAY

  • by Meifu Wang

  • God rays pierce through afteroon stratocumulus
  • and imbue their downy wings with pink and gray,
  • just then a host of fairy prions swoop
  • to skim the sea, adding glitter to infinity.
  • Without glitter, gray is gentle as a peace dove,
  • a little like your gray parka with a pink collar.
  • Sometimes I adore sea green, but nothing
  • gladdens me more than pink and gray
  • except Mother’s smile one summer day
  • when she dressed me in red.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

浅紅配灰藍

  • 王美富

  • 如針似箭的光束在午后穿透雲翳,
  • 為雲影抹上浅紅與灰藍的色澤.
  • 那时,正好有一群仙鋸鹱自半空而來
  • 俯衝掠過水面,把無垠的大海撥出閃閃銀光。
  • 有的灰藍不带光泽,卻有信鴿的溫順,
  • 你灰藍的外套配上浅紅小領子就有那個味道。
  • 偶爾海藍色也叫我心曠神怡,但總體來說
  • 我對淺紅配灰藍最是情有獨鍾,
  • 卻記得小時候,母親為我縫了一件紅衣裳,
  • 那時她美麗的笑容勝過所有的色彩。

BLIZZARD

  • by Meifu Wang

  • They are light and fluffy, even flimsy,
  • but a million of them open their wings
  • belly-flopping from the sky
  • in quiet ecstasy for the anarchy on earth.
  • My car's drives on steadily,
  • braving these whimsical flurries in their millions,
  • entrenching their dainty acrobatic bodies
  • to the edges of the windshield.
  • I have no one to follow in a space
  • that opens and closes quickly before me.
  • My despair is complete, fearing my memory of you
  • is about to lose its place in the universe.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

漫天飛雪

  • 王美富

  • 他們看似弱不禁風, 輕盈, 飄逸,
  • 然而千百萬個他們一起大展雙翼
  • 從天而降,樂不可支,
  • 彷彿愛上了此刻人間的無為自化。
  • 我開著小車,穩穩當當地向前行駛,
  • 勇敢地面對一群有一群放任的雪花,
  • 搖擺的雨刷把它們靈巧的身體
  • 一片片掃到擋風玻璃的邊緣
  • 在這漫天飛雪速開速合的空間裡,
  • 我忽然感覺孤單無依,
  • 我心徬徨,怕的是珍藏於心底的有關你的回憶
  • 很快就要從這個宇宙里消失。

WHY DID SHE GO TO THE FORTUNE TELLER

  • by Meifu Wang

  • Ordinarily the fortune tellers are the ones eager to engage.
  • One of them staked out at the underpass to the train station.
  • He said, “oh, come, wait, look at your face, let me tell you about...”
  • Tell her about what? About fate? That is to say, money, love, luck, career, and health?
  • Is the “telling” to help map out an escape route from misfortunes,
  • from one’s demons, and the decisions and non-decisions?
  • That particular afternoon the fortune teller pointed out a few milestones,
  • including fat years and lean years, those in the past and thosse still to come.
  • “Oh, but, that was the year my daughter was born.”
  • “It had nothing to do with your daughter,” he replied.
  • They say fortune-tellers are masters of statistics,
  • using the same method as facial recognition, but relying more on intuition.
  • That afternoon when she sat before the monk, south of eastern Mongolian grassland,
  • under the white and vermillion Tibetan-Buddhist monastery,
  • it felt less tentative than science.
  • Her travel companion was displeased, grunting and berating,
  • with words such as scam, fools, weak mind, et cetera.
  • To her, a daughter of postwar soldier, every expenditure must have a tangible purpose,
  • must fit in with logics.
  • Towards the end of the day, they took the bus to return to the city
  • — such a slow-moving bus that they wondered if the driver was paid by piece-work
  • and didn’t want to miss the teenager dashing out from the alley
  • in a glorious retro-metrosexual outfit,
  • or the grannie with a sagging grocery bag in her thin arm,
  • or the foreign trio in dark gore-tex with a map in their hands plotting out their next journey.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

與算命先生相對而坐

  • 王美富

  • 通常算命先生都是主動熱心的。
  • 有一個還常常在火車站的地下通道等著。
  • 那天他說:“哦,等等,快點,看你的臉型,啊,聽我說……”
  • 要告訴她什麼?不就是命運?不就是錢財、愛情、運氣、事業和健康?
  • 說是算命,確實就是宣傳能幫你擺脫厄運?
  • 或是擺脫內心的掙扎,來到岔路口不得不做的抉擇 (有的人喜歡一拖再拖)?
  • 那天下午,算命先生為她指出幾個生命的關卡,
  • 豐年,荒年,過去與未來。
  • “哦,可是,那是我女兒出生那一年。”
  • “這和你女兒沒什麼關係,” 他回答。
  • 人們說算命先生其實是統計學大師,
  • 用的方法與人工智慧的臉部辨識相似,但靠直覺多一點。
  • 那天下午,在蒙古草原的東南一角,在一座朱白相間的藏傳佛寺高牆下面,
  • 她與算命的僧侶相對而坐,
  • 僧侶雖然是帶她摸著石頭過河,感覺比科學家更有自信。
  • 她的旅伴非常不高興,哼哼唧唧地嘀咕著,
  • 說什麼沒有文化迷信騙局傻瓜等等。
  • 身為戰後士兵的女兒,從她的角度看,每筆開銷必須有實際用途,必須符合邏輯。
  • 時近傍晚,她們一起搭車返回城市,
  • 公車慢吞吞的走,以至於她們開始猜測司機的工資也許是按人計酬的。
  • 因此他不想錯過那個從巷底衝出來的少年,穿著幾年前時髦過的絲質男裝,
  • 還有那個手臂鬆垮的擰著購物袋的老奶奶,
  • 還有三個老外,一身新款防風防水黑外套、抓著地圖,議論著下一段旅程。

POTTER CREEK TRAIL

  • by Meifu Wang

  • This forest revives itself in the falling of leaves.
  • The palms of devil’s clubs webbed and shriveled,
  • and the tall grass languishes under the weight of dew.
  • Having shed off its gaudy youth, the forest's afresh again:
  • all is greyish-brown, and every thin rib exposed.
  • The hillside is crusted with overnight frost.
  • A step up on the humus, signs of life and death intermingle,
  • yet the brilliance of the woods is fading
  • as summer makes way for the glorious autumn:
  • somber is its tone, and what lovely duskiness!
  • A trail of fallen leaves crisscrosses the sun’s path.
  • Languid old reeds thwart on thorny roses,
  • whose pink flowers yield waterless fruit,
  • untouched by squirrels, hares, magpies, and wolves,
  • there are cranberries though, luminent and sweet.
  • Between the season of birth and the season of sleep,
  • words amble through the woods on the shoulders of the wind.

  • Written and Translated by Meifu Wang

阿拉斯加的波特溪山林小道

  • 王美富

  • 秋葉落地之後,樹林彷彿復活了。
  • 凋零的刺五加還賣力地撐著乾癟的葉脈。
  • 狐尾草在露水的負荷下不再挺拔。
  • 艷麗的青春不再,樹林煥然一新:
  • 幽深的色調裡,凸顯樹林的肋骨。
  • 山坡披著薄薄的白霜,其下的腐植土
  • 觸目可見經年累月,生死交織的跡象,
  • 啊,森林的火焰正漸漸消逝,
  • 夏日遜位,絢麗的秋日登台:
  • 秋色如此穩健,暮色如此迷人!
  • 鋪滿落葉的小徑如畫龍,追隨太陽的軌跡。
  • 兩邊的老蘆葦倚著多刺的野薔薇,淺紅花
  • 早發育成乾癟的果實,藏匿著明年的種子,
  • 松鼠,野兔,喜鵲,野狼都嚐過它的苦澀。
  • 林子裡晶瑩的蔓越莓,是酸是甜說不清楚。
  • 在生息與衰亡兩個季節之間,
  • 神秘的文字穿過林間,隨風飄蕩。