Lin Wei-yun / 林葦芸

Lin Wei-yun (b. 1976), born in Taipei, received a MA in political science from National Taiwan University. She entered a non-fiction line of work as an international news writer and New York correspondent for news channels. Currently she works at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific. Not until 2013 did she join a poetry club founded by Mr. Lee Kuei-Shien and start writing poems.

linweiyun@yahoo.com

        The Fugue of War / 戰爭賦格

As the commander raises his baton

Soldiers have sheet music at the ready

“Major, in C Major?”

“Artillery, this Allegro requires a Crescendo”

Their heartbeats a built-in metronome

Da Da Da, they keep the beat

Bullets chase targets supersonically

Death takes to the sky lightly

One single contrapuntal composition is at play

Aim, fire, fall

Howitzers and mortars

Sing their parts, high and low

Aim, fire, fall

Bombers take off to deliver ordnance

An enriching form, bringing an end

Aim, fire, fall

A-bombs crash down in a deafening accento

Rumbling towards a climactic final note

The world is silenced for ten measures

Bach's lips curve up in a smile

Arms dealers stand in ovation

War revels on the stage

And the encores continue evermore

        Fugui Cape / 富貴角

Suffering from bipolar, volcanoes

Gave birth to Fugui Cape with no silver spoon in its mouth

Given a Dutch name during infancy

And adopted by Japanese parents

She speaks a language belonging to no nation

Her hand holds only a lonely lighthouse

How unmistakably painted in black and white

Failing to shine through night and fog of history

Postscript: “Fugui” means “wealth” in Mandarin.

The Sound of Heartbeat / 心臟音

The sound of heartbeat on a stethoscope

Recorded on a metal disc

Embedded with sets of Morse code

To deceive the enemy

The heart feigning regularity

Off only by a beat between breaths

Performing a variation of coded chords 

Waiting for the other side of the Universe

To decipher the secret telegram