Enkaryon Ang / 從水跡出發 / Departing from the Water’s Trace

Photo: Chih Yuan Wang

彈塗魚的邊緣
在海水與溪流的擾動處
沼澤隱沒紅樹林間
一池塘水正仰望著天空
望不見雲層之上的人造衛星

候鳥正在行經島嶼的上空
翻覆牠們的明與暗
集體展現出
與濕度、溫度跟風向的和諧
可能如謎語般被書寫
可能如沉默般留下一道縫隙
瞬間消逝

有著邊界，所有視域的必然性
一面鏡子跟眼睛
只能閃爍著有限的心意

水跡，小於人的腳印
保持它所有的忍耐力
在海口
交換著鹽分，然後

一如所有的承諾
展現更複雜的生態系
在無機與有機之間
最後被化約成沼澤的一部分
逐漸失去天空的畫面

最後成為一場例行的國際會議
人們聽不見彈塗魚的聲響
與擾動水跡的鰭
隱沒在土與水的交界線
紅樹林正在迎接東北季風
篩選現實與夢的氣味
在一場雨中，將晴天的水氣放下

Departing from the Water’s Trace

At the edge of the mudskippers
Where the sea and the stream clashes
Amidst the mangroves, the swamp hides
A pond mirrors the sky,
Devoid of the artificial satellites up high

The migratory birds are passing over the islands
Flipping their light and dark sides
Collectively displaying
Harmony with humidity, temperature, and wind direction
It may be written like a riddle
It may leave a gap like silence
Vanishing in a moment

With boundaries, all perspectives are inevitable
A mirror and eyes
Can only shine with limited intentions

A water trace, smaller than a human footprint
Maintain all their endurance
At the mouth of the sea
Crossing salt over, and then

Like all promises
Displaying a more complex ecosystem
Between inorganic and organic
Finally reduced to part of the swamp
Gradually losing the image of the sky

Finally becoming a routine of international conference
People cannot hear the sound of the mudskippers
And the fins that disturb the water’s trace
The mudskippers disappear at the intersection of soil and water
The mangroves are welcoming the northeast monsoon
Filtering the smell of reality and dreams
Rain leaves moisture on the ground from a sunny day.

山區的豪雨特報

手機的訊息突然傳來了豪雨特報
表妹在山區
說他寄居的民宿已經深陷洪水
她在網路上發布了一則短片──
人們在二樓揮手，那個矩形的畫面邊緣是土石流

在梯田上的強降雨
沿著階梯展現了位能的原則

表妹傳來訊息，「一切安全」
當我的表妹掛斷電話打給祖母時，電視的快訊
又傳來雨勢的災情，我說「別擔心。」
她很害怕，因為祖母在城裡住了 60 年

在自然與城的交界
理論上，其實，交界並不存在
因為人們並不願意另一種共生的方式
或是甘冒危險
我們現在在一切不能處理的事務
都交給了氣候變遷

當天空變成水泥一邊的顏色時得嘆了口氣。
我們將為所有即將發生的事物命名。

Heavy Rain Warning in the Mountains

The phone message suddenly came with a heavy rain warning
My cousin was in the mountains
Saying that her homestay she was already submerged in floodwater
She posted a short video online–
People waving from the second floor, the edge of the rectangular screen was a debris flow

The heavy rain on the terraced fields
Demonstrated the principle of potential energy along the steps

My cousin sent a message, “Everything is fine”
When my cousin hung up and called my grandmother, the TV news
Broadcasted the disaster caused by the rain, I said, “Don’t worry.”
She was very scared because my grandmother had lived in the city for 60 years

At the intersection of nature and the city
In theory, actually, the intersection does not exist
Because people are not willing to accept another way of coexistence
Or take risks
We now entrust everything that cannot be handled To climate change

When the sky turns the color of one side of cement, we sigh.
We will name everything that is about to happen.

礦場的秘密

蜂窩的一扇門，然後閃爍，
光 滲透
構樹和朱槿的花瓣

露水蒸散的詩句
鑲嵌在雲間

部落中的山葡萄
在樹幹透出它的喜悅
草坪上的草，和更大的轟鳴聲
除草機，正為小小的路徑服務

鄉野是由其他未割草的草組成
繁茂在那些小路旁
綠色絢麗

脆弱的天堂正受到
推土機包圍
再遠一點的水泥廠
使空氣出現過度乾燥的氣味
一切事物的辛酸始終在
威脅、入侵、消耗

礦場，不遠處的礦場
在隧道中，運出了它週期性的報表
可能是礦物
可能屬於無聲的震動
人們知道那一面山體滑坡出現的原因

一天結束時整個天空
廣闊、慷慨、充滿透明的
橘紅色
或橙子的色調，
透過鱗狀的雲彩
工業區上方、商場上方
與部落稀落的燈光，讓一道黑夜
滑落了下來

The Secret of the Mine

A honeycomb door, then flicker,
Light seeps through
The structure of trees and hibiscus petals

Poetic lines evaporating dew
Embedded in the clouds

The mountain wild grapes in the tribe
The tree trunk reveals its joy
The grass on the lawn, and the louder roar
The weed cutter is serving a small path

The countryside is composed of other uncut grass
Thriving along those small roads
Green and gorgeous

This fragile paradise is surrounded by Bulldozers
The cement factory a little further away
Causes an overly dry smell in the air
The bitterness of everything always lies in
Threats, invasions, and consumption

The mine, the near one
In the tunnel, it transports its periodic report
It may be minerals
It may belong to a silent vibration
People know the reason for the landslide on that side of the mountain

At the end of the day, the entire sky
Wide, generous, and full of transparency
Orange-red
Or shades of orange
Through the scale-like clouds
Above the industrial area, above the mall
And the sparse lights of the tribe let a black night
Slide down

意識的油窗

黏著，笨重
油船的內容中
飽滿著國家的需求
遙想其繼承的一切
用著浮游生物的過去
穿過運河
沿著海峽到目的地

海平面正在上升一如油價
島嶼正在沉沒於戰爭新聞

與陸地保持距離
一艘油輪搖晃著地球的韻律

一節一節
帶船人，等待它的來臨
海水漫過了港口
悲觀與樂觀交替

加油站中人們並不緊鄰現世
一切只存在
原油煉化後，拿著加油槍後
汽油箱的空間

輕盈、茶色
油箱的內容中
消費著計算著這一次加油佔月收入的含比
伴隨分餾塔盛接的溶液
奮力地燃燒
穿過街口
一切俗世的負擔

The Oil Window of Consciousness

Sticky, heavy
In the contents of the oil tanker
Full of the nations’ needs Thinking of everything it inherits
Using the past of plankton
Crossing the canal
Along the strait to the destination

The sea level is rising like oil prices
Islands are sinking in war news

Keeping a distance from the land
An oil tanker sways to the rhythm of the Earth
One section at a time
Carrying sailors, waiting for its arrival
The seawater flooded the port
Pessimism and optimism alternate

People in gas stations are not close to the present world
Everything exists only
After crude oil is refined, after holding a gas gun
The space of the gas tank

Light and brown Layers
In the contents of the fuel tank
Consuming and calculating the proportion of this refueling to monthly income
Accompanied by the solution received by the fractionating tower
Burning hard
Crossing the street corner
All worldly burdens

English translation by Enkaryon Ang.

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Enkaryon Ang is a poet based in Taipei, Taiwan. Since 2009 he has published several collections of poetry and essays. He also works as a literature curator and art critic, mainly for world literature and Colonial issues in East Asia and Southeast Asia.  In 2018, he was honored as a young art critic by the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).  He was a resident writer in Can Serrat in 2017, and in UNESCO Prague-City of Literature in 2020, and also serves as a resident theatre critic in Macau City Fringe Festival in 2018 and 2020.  ‘A Galaxy of Howness’ is his latest poetry collection, which describes the emotional changing of the post-digital society in Taiwan.  His recent project is about rewilding garden culture.  He views the garden as a model of the modern colonial process and seeks to explore the cultural transition and tension between the West and the East.

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Published with funding from Kulturdirektoratet.