Yen Shang / 岩上

Yen Shang（b. 1938）, pen name of Yen Cheng-hsing, is a native of Nan Tou Country, Taiwan. He once worked as a teacher and retired earlier than usual, then served as a chairman of Taiwan Children literature Association and the editor-in-chief of Li Poetry Bimothly. He has begun his work on modern poems since 1955 and till now has published ten books of poetry including “The Rolling Age” and three of poetical criticism including “The Existence of Poems”. He won Wu Zhuoliu New Poetry Prize, New Poetry Creation Prize by the Chinese Literature Contribution Prize and Taiwan Poets Prize. He was the founder of the Poems Pulse Club.

yenshang@pchome.com.tw

Mudslide / 土石流

Soil cannot put down roots

Stone cannot stand

Flow continuous has been the flow of life’s

Tears followed by sweat and blood

Then the heart is exhausted

What else has

Been licked by the flames of war?

Fire and water don’t mix

Walls fall

Fields abandoned

Orchards toppled

All property

Mixed with mud and stone

Scattered

Why do

The mountains become irritable?

The earth loosen legs?

The stones bust guts?

The sky break bladder and urinary organs?

The land is epileptic

The forest runs wild

The stream, paralyzed, can’t catch hold of its banks

Clamber to safety? Where?

Hands waving for help

Staggering

Around

A betel palm spits out a mouthful of chewed

Blood

Translated by John J.S. BALCOM 陶忘機

　　Fire /火

Burning anger, this world

The never-ending wars are the spreading fires of anger against unfairness

In fact, there is a gentle and graceful flame in the mind of each person

Warmly comforts the self; illuminates the others

The continuation of life relies on

The passing of the never distinguished fire

Fires are extinguished in the water; Fires are created in the water

Fires are the never-ending desires

Translated by Litze Hu

Dance / 舞

Break one’s tendons and bones section by section

Re-string them together into a rope

Throw out the rope and it becomes a snake; so soft it turns into water

Fishes jump out of the water and become eagles

Fly and circle over; spin out of drifting clouds

Like crashing rain; from heaven to earth, becomes the embodiment of lotus and returns to the tumultuous sea

Dance is change, physical motion becomes image language

Dance with one’s style; fills with changes and disillusionments

Translated by　Litze Hu