苏菲诗歌&翻译网-诗人风采-第二位诗人风采展示

伊沙风采(Poet Yi Sha)
作者简介
伊沙,男,原名吴文健。诗人、作家、批评家、翻译家、编选家。 1966年生于四川成都。1989年毕业于北京师范大学中文系。现于西安外国语大学中文学院任教。出版著、译、编70余部作品。获美国亨利•鲁斯基金会中文诗歌奖金以及中国国内数十项诗歌奖项。应邀出席瑞典第16届奈舍国际诗歌节、荷兰第38届鹿特丹国际诗歌节、英国第20届奥尔德堡国际诗歌节、马其顿第50届斯特鲁加国际诗歌节、中国第二、三、四届青海湖国际诗歌节、第二届澳门文学节、美国佛蒙特创作中心等国际交流活动和写作计划。
About the Author
Yi Sha, male, real name Wu Wenjian, is a poet, writer, critic, translator, and compiler. He was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, in 1966, and graduated from the department of Chinese language and literature of Beijing Normal University in 1989. He now teaches in the Chinese Institute of Xi'an International Studies University. He has published over 70 written, translated and edited books and won a Chinese poetry grant from the Henry Luce Foundation in USA and more than dozens of poetry awards in China. He was invited to participate in a number of international exchange activities and a writing program, such as the 16th Nässjö International Poetry Festival in Sweden, the 38th Rotterdam International Poetry Festival in Netherlands, the 20th Aldeburgh International Poetry Festival in UK, the 50th Struga International Poetry Festival in Macedonia (Struga Poetry Evenings), (the 2nd, the 3rd and the 4th) Qinghai Lake International Poetry Festival in China, the second Macao Literary Festival, and the United States of Vermont Creative Writing Center writing program
Translated by Sophy Chen 2015-01-24
Yi Sha
READING AT ARIZONA UNIVERSITY: OCT. 25th, 2014
1) 《车过黄河》 CROSSING THE YELLOW RIVER
2) 《9/11 心里报告》 9/11 REPORT FROM THE COUCH
3) 《中国底层》 CHINA DOWN AT THE BOTTOM
4) 《性爱教育》 SEX EDUCATION
5) 《在美国使馆遭拒签》 HAVING MY VISA REFUSED AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY
6) 《二 泉映月》 THE MOON REFLECTED IN SECOND SPRING
7) 《烟民萨达姆》 SADDAM THE SMOKER
8) 《进入美国》 ENTERING AMERICA
9) 《佛蒙特创作中心》 VERMONT STUDIO CENTER
10) 《一年》 ONE YEAR
11) 《在美国再忆钟品》IN AMERICA, THINKING OF ZHONG PIN
12) 《隔壁的歌声》 SONG FROM NEXT DOOR
13) 《梦(442)》 DREAM #442 (it is winter/ I’m in an internet cafe/ ...)
14) 《佛州吟》 SONG OF VERMONT
15) 《烦人的鲁奖》 GODDAMN LU-PRIZE
Yi Sha
CROSSING THE YELLOW RIVER
The train was passing the Yellow River
I was in the toilet
I know that pissing wasn’t the right thing
I should have sat at my window
or stood at a door
left hand on my hip
right hand at my brows
gazing out like a Great Man
at least like a poet
having thoughts on the river
on old debts of history
everyone was gazing out
I was in the toilet
taking my time
finally I had time for myself
I had waited one day and one night
in the time it took for my business
the Yellow River had flown far away
1988
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
车过黄河
列车经过黄河
我正在厕所小便
我深知这不该
我 应该坐在窗前
或站在车门旁边
左手叉腰
右手作眉檐
眺望 象个伟人
至少象个诗人
想点河上的事情
或历史的陈帐
那时人们都在眺望
我在厕所里
时间很长
现在这时间属于我
我等了一天一夜
只一泡尿功夫
黄河已经流远
Yi Sha
9.11 REPORT FROM THE COUCH
Ist second: mouth barn-door open
2nd second:wooden-chicken stiff
3rd second:couldn’t believe it
4th second:it must be true
5th second:what a great fire
6th second:well they deserve it
7th second:this is retribution
8th second:these buggers have guts
9th second:must be their religion
10th second:before I realize
my own little sister
lives in new york
I need a telephone
long distance call!
can’t get a connection!
I go storming for a computer
where is the internet
typing out characters
writing an email
shaky fingers
“sister, sister!
are you alive?
your elder brother is worried sick!”
2001
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
《9.11心理报告》
第1秒钟目瞪口呆
第2秒钟呆若木鸡
第3秒钟将信将疑
第4秒钟确信无疑
第5秒钟隔岸观火
第6秒钟幸灾乐祸
第7秒钟口称复仇
第8秒钟崇拜歹徒
第9秒钟感叹信仰
第10秒钟猛然记起
我的胞妹
就住在纽约
急拨电话
要国际长途
未通
扑向电脑
上网
发伊妹儿
敲字
手指发抖
“妹子,妹子
你还活着吗?
老哥快要急死了!”
(2001)
Yi Sha
CHINA DOWN AT THE BOTTOM
Pigtail is meeting his friend at the tent.
“Bao, do you have cigarettes?”
That box of cigarettes was stolen,
just like the type 64 handgun up on the roof.
Bao sits on the bed in the construction tent.
He broke his leg when they ran with the pistol.
Bao wants to sell it
and go to the hospital to get his leg fixed.
Pigtail is all against that.
“Bao, they will take down your head!”
Bao starts to cry,
crying harder and harder: “Look at the state I’m in!”
“I haven’t eaten at all for two days.
You want my leg to stay broken?”
Now Pigtail starts crying.
He’s wiping his face: “Look at this state we’re in!”
Pigtail decides to sell the gun.
He sells the gun to Mr. Dong.
This was the beginning of a big case:
The 12/1/97 murders* in Xi’an.
On such a night everyone thinks of the murders
I think of Pigtail and of Young Bao.
These hopeless kids from the bottom of China,
this people’s poet can’t get them out of his head.
1997-1999
Tr. MW, August 2014
伊沙
《中国底层》
辫子应约来到工棚
他说:“小保你有烟抽了?”
那盒烟也是偷来的
和棚顶上一把六四式手枪
小保在床上坐着
他的腿在干这件活儿逃跑时摔断了
小保想卖了那枪
然后去医院把自己的腿接上
辫子坚决不让
“小保,这可是要掉脑袋的!”
小保哭了
越哭越凶:“看我可怜的!”
他说:“我都两天没吃饭了
你忍心让我腿一直断着?”
辫子也哭了
他一抹眼泪:“看咱可怜的!”
辫子决定帮助小保卖枪
经他介绍把枪卖给一个姓董的
以上所述的是震惊全国的
西安12.1枪杀大案的开始
这样的夜晚别人都关心大案
我只关心辫子和小保
这些来自中国底层无望的孩子
让我这人民的诗人受不了
1997-1999
Yi Sha
SEX EDUCATION
One of our travels
We didn’t get out very much –
Nine years ago. Led us to Qingdao -
A summer of love
Sand castles, writing on rocks
Fresh clams in small restaurants
Very cheap. I remember
We lived in a school
A hotel for the summer
It was our summer of
Watching movies together
One night we sat
In the video room
All the way until morning
There was a flick about all kinds of fish
We were attracted
And then we felt
Shaken without compare
There was a fish called salmon
They had this one time
Of uninhibited communion
At the end of their lives
Fish of great beauty
Nine years ago
We don’t remember
How great it was
But no-one forgets
The pain at the end
1997
Tr. MW, 2014/2
伊沙
性爱教育
那是我们不多的
出门旅行中的一次
九年前 在青岛
那是属于爱情的夏天
海滩上的砂器和字迹
小饭店里的鲜贝
非常便宜 记得
我们住在一所
学校里 在夏季
它临时改成了旅店
那是我们共同的
爱看电影的夏天
一个晚上 我们
在录像厅里
坐到了天亮
一部介绍鱼类的片子
吸引了我们
使我们感到
震惊无比
那种鱼叫三文鱼
一种以一次
酣畅淋漓的交媾
为生命终结的
美艳之鱼
九年了
我们没有记住
它的美丽
只是难以忘记
这种残酷的结局
1997
Yi Sha
HAVING MY VISA REFUSED AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY
all morning till noon
one hundred people in a small room
like smuggled in a container
among boring figures and faces
a beautiful girl studying ballet
brings us all to attention
before my meeting with the official
I have a bit of bad feeling
among the people who get a visa
not one man under 50
only two men
an old guy with his wife
and one so small he doesn’t reach to the counter
America’s scared
they are really afraid
must be scared of our men!
holy shit! visa-official with a big beard
looks like a muslim, much more than me
much more like a terrorist
he doesn’t deliberate
he’s very sure he’s refusing my visa
must have seen something in my eyes
we say big apes cherish each other
he saw some deep hidden blood lust
an intention to immigrate
he’s reading the signs
the great li taibo from the tang dynasty moving to persia
no fucking international jokes please
holding my head up while taking my leave
I see the ballet girl was also refused
at another counter by a black woman
but she’s one happy duckling
flying outside with a song on her lips
“her parents were forcing her to go to america ...”
someone from the crowd knows how it is
2004
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
《在美国使馆遭拒签》
整个上午
一百个人挤在一个不大的厅里
像挤在一条偷渡船的仓底
在等待签证的百无聊赖中
一个学芭蕾的美少女
成为全场的最大姣点
在与签证官见面之前
我已经有点底虚了
我怎么瞧着被签的人中
几乎没有青壮年的男人
有那么两个
一个是带着老伴的老头
一个是个头够不到窗口的侏儒
美国怕了
真的怕了
他们现在怕男人
哇靠!大胡子的签证官
其实比我长得
更接近于穆斯林
也更像个恐怖分子
他未加丝毫考虑
坚定不移地拒签我
难道是猩猩惜猩猩
他一眼便瞧出了我眼中
深藏不露的杀气
移民之嫌
有此迹象乎
大唐李白想要移民波斯
你他妈甭跟老子开国际玩笑了
在我扬长而去之时
那个学芭蕾的美少女
也被另一窗口的黑女人拒签
她真是快乐得像只欲飞的小鸭子
欢叫着离开此地
“一准儿是她父母逼着她去美国……”
队伍里有人做出了正确的判断
(2004)
Yi Sha
THE MOON REFLECTED IN SECOND SPRING
In the summer three years ago
my son and I
used to play soccer
on empty spaces in our block
there was this boy
must have been around ten
always came running to play with us
he was the grandchild
of the bicycle guard in our block
he had a bit of a lisp
that hot summer
belonged to the soccer world championship
we had reckless matches
they sued me two times
then we stopped playing
Three years later
I'm always alone
in the hot sun
walking around our apartment block
avoiding the mobsters
"You you you
why why don't you play football no more?"
from his lisping
I recognize him
he is three years older
now I can see it
he's soft in the head
"Where do you go to school?"
"I I I .... don't go to school."
In the evening
a stifling hot night between our buildings
a jerky tune played on an erhu
You can just recognize
Blind Abing's famous piece
The Moon Reflected in Second Spring
I guess no-one knows
except me
it is that kid not right in the head
downstairs in the garage
taught by his grandpa
July 2013
Tr. MW, March 2014
伊沙
《二泉映月》
三年前的夏天
我和儿子
常在小区的空地上
踢球
一个十岁左右的
小男孩
老是跑来参与
他是小区看车库的
老师傅的孙子
说话有点大舌头
那个火热的
属于世界杯的夏天
我们疯狂踢球的行径
被人一连投诉了两次
也就不再踢了
三年后的夏天
我总是独自一人
头顶烈日
在小区的小径上
绕圈暴走
“你你你
怎怎么不踢球了?”
有人大着舌头问我
我才认出是那孩子
他长大了三岁
我才看出是个傻孩子
“你在哪儿上学?”
“我我我……不上学”
到了晚上
小区闷热的夜空中
响起了生涩的二胡声
依稀能够听出
是瞎子阿炳的
《二泉映月》
除了我
大概无人知晓
是这傻孩子拉的
他在地下车库顶上
跟随爷爷学艺
2013年7月
Yi Sha
SADDAM THE SMOKER
saddam hussain
before they hanged him
asked for a cigarette
fuck! that one smoke
had he drawn it into his mouth
he‘d have been floating in heaven already
one satisfied sigh
at he end of his life
would have been the best cigarette
he ever had
better than each of those
very best quality
cuban cigars
but -
mean little
iraqi warden
stuck to the rules and refused
fuck! what was that for
smokers don’t want very much before death
now he’s past all regret
he had nothing to say
facing his hour
saddam hussain went like a man
January 2007
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
《烟民萨达姆》
侯赛因•萨达姆
在临刑之前
曾向狱卒索烟
靠!那支烟
如果抽到嘴里的话
他定会飘飘欲仙
在生命的终点感叹
这是他平生
所抽过的
味道最好的
一支烟
比他平时抽惯了的
古巴雪茄的极品
还要好抽很多
但是——
这个小家子气的
伊拉克狱卒
断然拒绝了他
靠!这又何必呢
烟民将死就差这口
现在已经无所留恋
侯赛因•萨达姆只能去死了
他赴死的时候没得说
像个纯种的爷们儿
2007/1
Yi Sha
ENTERING AMERICA
I flew from beijing into detroit
and there I walked to immigration
facing two members
of the border police
one checking people
one checking luggage
I didn’t care what they were doing
I came prepared with one magic word
“I am a poet”
(from my successful experience
at the embassy getting a visa)
one policeman was old, one was young
but their expressions
surprised and delighted and even respectful
were exactly the same
over and over they stamped my passport
actually I had some experience before
this is not the first time I’m going abroad
except in my country where I keep quiet
I beat my chest everywhere and exclaim:
“I am a poet!”
---- --- --
shsh! don’t let the terrorists hear me
god bless america
and keep it safe
Sept. 27, 2014
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
《进入美国》
我从北京飞到底特律
并在此入境
一前一后
面对两位边检官
一个查人
一个查行李
我不管三七二十一
老子只有一个杀手锏
“我是诗人”
(那是从使馆签证官
那里得来的成功经验)
他俩一老一少
但脸上那种
又惊又喜又敬的表情
是一样的
钢印便重重地砸在
我的护照上
其实我似乎早有经验
又不是头一回出国
除了在自己祖国气不敢出
我他妈到哪儿都敢拍胸脯:
“我是诗人”
嘘!别让恐怖分子听了去
上帝保佑美利坚
还会继续保佑下去
Yi Sha
VERMONT STUDIO CENTER
joann from chicago
a female writer
could be my age
tells me about
an older writer
john from new york
(the patriarch among us writers)
he gave her a story
a work in progress
asking for her opinion
and the next morning
she raised a few points
she thought the snake
crawling into
a male person’s anus
it was not realistic
john heard her out
but then he ignored her
joann asked me:
“yi sha, please tell me
if this happened in china
what would be the outcome?”
I told her seriously:
“in china we never
show each other our stories
and no writer ever
would let a snake
crawl in somebody’s anus”
MW Tr. Oct. 2014
伊沙
《佛蒙特创作中心》
来自芝加哥的
中年女作家朱安
告诉我说
那个来自纽约的
老年男作家约翰
(我们作家组的组长)
给她看他一部
正在创作中的
小说手稿
她看完后
给他提了点意见
认为其中一条蛇
钻进一个男人屁眼
这个细节不真实
老约翰听罢
再也不搭理她了
朱安问我:
“伊沙,你说
这件事如果
发生在中国
会怎么样?”
我认真作答:
“在中国
不会有同行
给你看其手稿
也不会有作家
写一条蛇
钻进人的屁眼里”
Yi Sha
ONE YEAR
at vermont studio center
in front of maverick writing studio
I ask joann
the female writer from chicago:
“I heard the longest residence here
is twelve months.
have you met any writer or painter
who stayed that long?”
“yeah, I’ve seen one”, says joann
stretching both arms in front of her
hopping forward
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
《一年》
在佛蒙特创作中心
马夫瑞克工作楼前
我问芝加哥女作家
朱安女士:
“此处最长的驻站
是12个月
你见过在这里
呆了一年的
作家或画家吗?”
“见过”朱安说
然后伸出双臂
向前平举
朝前蹦去
Yi Sha
IN AMERICA, THINKING OF ZHONG PIN
at vermont studio center
in front of maverick writing studio
a squirrel
shoots up a big maple tree
I think of you
I want to prove
to the world
in our time
there is still one person
who was unhappy
‘cause he did not become a poet
he could not find peace
that person was you
how does that sound
like a winter’s tale
but here in our world
there are no fairy tales
in fact you told me
25 years ago
“I am a hedonist
and would not be content
to become a poor poet …”
so I have to say
you did what you wanted
you followed the masses
went like all the people
so I relax
and the squirrel
jumps from the tall maple tree
to look at me
in his little eyes
I see only joy
no fear at all
it must be you
your soul is in heaven
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
《在美国再忆钟品》
在佛蒙特创作中心
马夫瑞克工作楼前
一只小松鼠
窜上了高大的枫树
我想起了你
我想向世界
提供一个证明
即使在这个时代
也还是有人
在为没有做成诗人
而不安宁
而不快乐
那便是你
这听起来
仿佛冬天的童话
但此人间
哪有童话
事实是你在
二十五年前
就曾对我说过:
“我是享乐主义者
不会满足于做个
穷诗人……”
所以说起来
你是什么都想要啊
从凡夫俗子
从芸芸众生
我也就释怀了
一只小松鼠
从高大的枫树上
一跃而下
与我对望
小眼睛里
只有欣喜
没有恐惧
是你升入天堂的
灵魂
Yi Sha
SONG FROM NEXT DOOR
next door to my studio
a tibetan poet from india
when he was ten
he fled with his parents
writes in english and in tibetan
does not speak chinese
everyday he brings a guitar
actually it’s his own three-stringed instrument
when inspired
he breaks out in song
music goes through the walls
I don’t feel
he is disturbing me
I often prick up my ears
oh, it comes again
he is singing
I feel like I am going to cry
he sings in tibetan
but it is the tune
“nothing is more red then the sun,
no-one is closer than chairman mao…”
Tr. MW Oct. 2014
伊沙
《隔壁的歌声》
我工作室隔壁
是一位印籍藏裔诗人
在他十岁那年
随爹妈逃到印度
用藏、英双语写作
不通汉语
他每天怀抱一把
六弦琴来到工作室
兴之所至
便弹唱起来
歌声穿墙而过
我不觉得
打扰了我
常常侧耳谛听
哦,此时此刻
他又唱起来了
听得我差点泪奔
他唱的是藏文版
《太阳最红,毛主席最亲》
Yi Sha
DREAM #442
it is winter
I’m in an Internet cafe
to go online
in this Internet bar
there is this old iron stove
from long time ago
with a metal chimney
going outside the house
up on the ledge
you can roast sweet potatoes
that kind of stove
above my head
there’s a gaslight
shining bright
just like the moon
August 2014
Tr. MW, August 2014
《梦(442)》
冬天
我在一家网吧
上网
那家网吧
有一座过往年代的
大铁炉子
架有通向户外的
铁皮烟囱
炉口边沿
可以烤红薯的
那种
头顶上有一盏
煤气灯
很亮
像月亮
Yi Sha
SONG OF VERMONT
(Tang dynasty style)
Green peaks raise blue skies,
clear brooks meet in ponds.
Maples reflected -
is this the real world?
Wang Wei walked here
to his Journey’s End.
Frost stopped in woods,
we have miles to go.
I am just a guest,
with geese flying south.
Red leaves send us off,
snowflakes greeting spring.
Written 10/16/14 at Vermont Studio Center
Tr. MW, Oct. 2014
伊沙
《佛州吟》
绿山举青天,
碧水聚清潭,
枫林有倒影,
何似在人间?
王维到此游,
行到水穷处,
佛生本乡出,
林中有岔路。
我本一过客,
鸿雁欲南飞,
落叶送旧旅,
飞雪迎春归
Yi Sha
GODDAMN LU-PRIZE
the night they announced
the lu xun literature prize
my mobile phone rang
it was the ningxia muslim poet
shan yongzhen. he said:
“only if you are never considered
for the biggest official prize,
you can become
a great poet in china.
tonight my first candidate
would have been chang yao
(who died in 2000)
the second one I thought of
was you, brother yi!”
hearing these words
brother yi stammered
didn’t know what to say
would have liked to hang up
brother shan said:
“so you don’t want to
discuss this topic
in any way?”
I said:
“yes, yes ....”
he didn’t know
what I was doing
I didn’t want to discuss any topic
I was watching a porn flick
in my computer
there was this great
piece of ass from thailand
in front of my eyes
August 2014
Tr. Oct. 2014
伊沙
《烦人的鲁奖》
鲁迅文学奖
揭晓当夜
我的手机响了
是宁夏回族诗人
单永珍——他说:
“在中国
永不染指鲁奖的
才会成为
伟大的诗人
今晚我头一个
想到的是昌耀
第二个想到了
老哥你……”
面对此说
本老哥支支吾吾
不像往常那般
口若悬河
几欲挂断电话
对方说:
“你是不是
连这个话题
都不想谈?”
我说:
“是的,是的……”
对方不知道
此时此刻
我什么都不想谈
因我正在看A片
一个泰国妞
正在我面前的电脑上
晒屁股
美国诗人、评论家丹尼尔•布瑞克,写给苏菲的诗歌评论
美国诗人、评论家丹尼尔•布瑞克,写给苏菲的诗歌评论
这是一首绝望之诗,也是一首悲痛之诗。或许,这首诗的创作动机,是想通过一个绝望的希望,用人类文化遗产在诗歌里的体现来解释恐怖主义,并提出恐怖主义存在的原因。在那个灾难的夜晚,我们很多人,不但依赖互联网寻找信息,还连接一些志同道合的人来抚慰我们未曾丢失的灵魂。这位诗人的体验,尤其受到创伤,因为她知道将会如此。她希望找到的东西,和实际上她所能找到的东西,之间的不匹配加深了她的悲痛。她徒劳的搜索,持续了三天三夜,在此期间,她牺牲了她的时间,她的安慰,以及她的睡眠。
值得注意的重点是:在任何时候,诗人绝没有把自己看成一个特殊的个体;她的诗可能确实是一首特殊的诗,但她的存在,仅仅是许许多多人员中的一个, 正如那些受害者。她用各种隐喻来形容搜索的本质。例如,“缠结的网络”,一个“蒸锅”,“虚幻的屏幕”,但最能产生共鸣的是“迷宫深处”,她遇到的不是凶残的野兽,她发现的只有黑暗和困惑。这不同于古代神话,陷入迷宫,而并没有决定性的胜利。在我们的现实世界,野兽就是恐怖主义,它在世界上松散的存在着。诗人的结论在本诗的标题里已经给出,在第一行,但在本诗的最后几行里,诗人略有加剧重申这一结论。
有时候,一首诗有它自己的方向,并巧妙地滑出了诗人意识的控制。重读这首诗时,诗人自己可能会发现这个隐藏的事项。 我个人的感觉是,诗人的工作强度和完整性掩盖了她的结论:诗歌一无是处。而且,她在这首诗里做出的努力,使我相信她最后的陈述是不成熟的。她的诗是一个脆弱的阿里阿德涅线团,将会指引所有心怀善意的诗人、读者、所有恐怖主义的受害者,走出世界的黑暗迷宫,来到光明的世界,在这里,人们团结在一起,并肯定他们的人文价值观。
(丹尼尔•布瑞克)
2015-12-29 苏菲英译汉 中国 广州
Sophy Chen’s poetry comments by USA Poet and Critics, Daniel J. Brick
This is a Poem of Despair. It is also a Poem of Grief. It was motivated perhaps by a desperate hope that the heritage of human culture embodied in poetry can explain terrorism, and offer an understanding of why it exists. Many of us resorted to the internet on that fateful night to seek information but also to connect to like-minded people to reassure our hearts all was not lost. This poet’s experience was especially traumatic, as she knew it would be. The mismatch between what she hoped to find and what is actually available deepened her grief. Her futile search lasted for three days during which she sacrificed her time, her comfort and her sleep.
It is important to note: At no time does the poet see herself as an exceptional individual; her poetry may indeed be exceptional, but in her being she is simply one among many, just like the victims. She uses a variety of metaphors to describe the nature of her search. For example, the “entangled web,” a “steaming pan,” “illusory screen,” but the most resonant is the “labyrinthine depths.” But instead of encountering a murderous beast, she finds only darkness. And confusion. Unlike the ancient myth, there is no decisive victory over the beast confined to the labyrinth. In our world the beast is terrorism, and it is loose in the world. The poet’s conclusion has been signaled in the title and in the first line, but she reiterates it with a slight intensification in her last lines.
Sometimes a poem has its own direction and subtly slips out of the poet’s conscious control. The poet herself may discover this hidden agenda upon re-reading. My personal feeling is that the intensity and completeness of this poet’s work belie her conclusion that POETRY IS NOTHING. Furthermore, it is her effort in writing this poem that convinces me her closing statement is premature. Her poem is a frail Ariadne's Thread that leads the poet, her readers and all other people of good will out of the dark labyrinth of a world victimized by terrorism into the bright upper world where people band together and affirm their humane values
(Daniel J. Brick)
(附苏菲汉英对照原诗)
【中国】苏菲
《面对恐怖主义,诗歌是一无是处的是处》
我24小时挂在网上,我更换了所有搜索引擎
所有关键词,在互联网的夹缝里
我嗅见了你的一丝气息
我48小时挂在网上,像热锅上的蚂蚁
一次次试图,漫过这热气腾腾的油锅
好看清你的真面目,好让你听见我在哭泣
我72小时挂在网上,我飞蛾扑火
一次次试图,越过那幻象中的画屏
好在你面前展现,我最完美的舞姿
好让你看得见,我坠入火海,那永恒的瞬间
我寻遍了整个地球,追寻你的蛛丝马迹
从互联网的缝隙里,我窥见了你的只言片语——
面对恐怖主义,诗歌苍白无力
面对恐怖主义,诗歌一无是处
我寻遍了整个宇宙,探求你的缘起缘灭
在宇宙的裂缝里,我窥见了你残留的原代码——
面对恐怖主义,诗歌是无力的无力
面对恐怖主义,诗歌是一无是处的是处
2015-11-23 香港,如心铜锣湾海景酒店
选自《反恐诗歌》
Sophy Chen, China
Faced with Terrorism, Poetry Is Nothings' Nothing
After being online for 24 hours, searching all of the search engines,
Trying all of the key words, in all the entangled web of the internet,
I found not the slightest trace of you.
After being online for 48 hours, like a cat on a hot tin roof,
Again and again, slaving over a steaming pan,
In order to better see you in your true colours, and to let you hear me crying,
I still found not the slightest trace of you.
After being online 72 hours, I, like a moth to a flame,
Again and again, trying to go beyond the illusory screen images
In order to show off my best dancing in front of you
And to let you see my final moment as I crash and burn.
I’ve searched the whole earth, following your clues
And from the labyrinthine depths of the internet,
I got a glimpse of your few, brief words —
Faced with terrorism, poetry is pale and powerless,
Faced with terrorism, poetry is nothing,
I’ve searched the whole universe, researching your origin and your end,
And at its extent, I got a glimpse of the original code you left behind —
Faced with terrorism, poetry is powerless’ powerlessness,
Faced with terrorism, poetry is nothings’ nothingness.
2015-11-23, Causeway Bay Harbour View Hotel, Hong Kong
Selected from POETRY AGAINST TERROR’