Wu Chin-shien / 吳俊賢

Wu Chin-shien （b. 1995）received his PhD from School of Forestry, Auburn University, USA in 1994. He has been the Senior Scientist and Chief Secretary of TFRI since 2012. He was a part-time associate professor in Chinese Culture University from 1996 to 2004, and taught Forest Management, Forestry Economics, and other. His poem won Wu Zhuoliu New Poetry Prize in 1985.

e-mail：johnwu@tfri.gov.tw

        Roots / 樹根

With the roots of a tree to firmly grasp the earth

with both hands to firmly grasp you

don’t let the unfeeling winds and rains

stir your heart

We cannot let ourselves be buried

in the washout of love

With the roots of a tree to firmly grasp the earth

with sympathy to firmly grasp human nature

don’t let seeds of enmity

erode your heart

We cannot let ourselves sink

in the washout of society

With the roots of a tree to firmly grasp the earth

with wisdom to firmly grasp the human heart

don’t let the sadness of history

inundate this beautiful island

We cannot let ourselves go astray

in the washout of politics

I beg the good earth to firmly grasp the roots

I beg of you to firmly grasp me

Please let the unfeeling winds and rains

wash the dust from our hearts

Please let the unfeeling washout

devour our confusing fate

Please let me firmly grasp you

as roots firmly grasp the earth

Please firmly grasp me

as my mother firmly grasped me

You are the roots of my life

grasp firmly my country and land

        Song of the Lotus Pond / 蓮華池之歌

In the fir woods surrounded by mountains in Nantou

there are many unassuming lotus flowers

honest in posture

leisurely growing in the pond

In the polluted city jungles

there is a solitary lotus flower

pure-scented in savor

maintaining itself in the pond with dignity

In beautiful forests of the remote West

are countless lotus flowers riotously blooming

thriving on the joys of meditation

enlightening each moment in distant ponds