Look & Learn - 12 Observations (poems) in English & Chinese
| Look | 看 | |
| & | 與 | |
| 學 | Learn | |
| OBSERVATIONS |
| indiakoreajapantaiwan |
| 印度韓國日本臺灣 |
| Epiphany | 頓悟 |
|
Pond surface in rain Below grow the trees Above float the fish Which is Heaven or Earth? |
雨滴落池面 下邊樹映簾 上邊魚優游 天地哪一邊 |
| Seoul Korea, July 1997 | 韓國漢城 一九九七年 七月 |
| No Room | 沒有房間 |
|
Imagine An empty room With nothing or nobody there In the middle of nowhere Don’t imagine No room Without anything or anyone there Not in the middle of anywhere |
在想 一間空房 有著虛無與孤寂 在縹緲之中 不想 沒有房間 沒有人或東西 不在任何地方 |
| Kyoto Japan, 03/99 | 日本京都 一九九九年 三月 |
| On the Surface | 在表面上 |
|
As the vines Climb the stairway walls of the Palace Museum Without hope of entering It seems that I too must remain content To climb upward and remain on the surface Without hope of penetrating the depths within |
如同藤蔓 攀爬在故宮的樓牆 沒有進入的希望 似乎我也得自足 向上攀爬而依然在表面上 沒有深入其中的希望 |
| Taipei Taiwan, 08/00 | 臺灣臺北 二OOO年八月 |
| Go Slow | 放 慢 |
|
The slower you go, the more you see From an aeroplane you see very little Other than concrete, clouds and sky Sailing on a ship, far shores become our harbours But one floats only on the surface From a train window you see much more But pass by unseen wonders Riding a bicycle on your own steam Places near and far become accessible And it may seem we experience the most on foot But the true glory of a place is revealed Only when one sits still |
走得越慢看得越多 從飛機上你看得極少 不外乎鋼筋水泥雲和天空 乘船遙遠的彼岸成了我們的港口 但只是漂浮在表面上 從火車窗你看到多更多 但錯過了未見的奇景 用自發的蒸氣來騎動單車 遠近地方皆可到達 而我們似乎在步行時經歷最多 但一個地方的真正光輝 只顯露在一個人坐定之時 |
| Udaipur India, July 1999 | 印度烏代浦爾 一九九九年七月 |
| I am a man | 我是男人 |
|
I am not a devil Nor an angel I am a human being I am not made of dirt Nor made of cosmic nectar I am made of flesh and blood I did not crawl up from the sea Nor was created in a flash of light I was born from my mother’s womb I do not use weapons of violence Nor use magical powers I use my head, heart, and hands I am not a criminal Nor a monk I am an artist I am not a monkey Nor a bodhisattva I am a man |
我不是惡魔 也不是天使 我是人 我不是泥土做的 也不是瓊漿玉液做的 我是血肉之軀 我並非從海裡爬出 也並非閃電創造 我誕生於母親的子宮 我不用力武器 也不用魔法 我用我的腦心和手 我不是罪犯 也不是和尚 我是藝術家 我不是猴子 也不是菩薩 我是男人 |
| Kyoto Japan, 06/00 | 日本京都 二OOO年六月 |
| Look & Learn | 看與學 |
|
Fold your arm inward and look at the fold Observe the beating of your heart Watch a sunbeam move across the floor See the earth turning on its axis Peer at the moon through a window with panes Witness it move as the earth continues turning Gaze at some long stemmed flowers in a vase Signaling earthquake tremors in advance Viewing a leaf falling from a tree in autumn You are seeing the Earth change its inclination Look at the geese flying northward in spring See the Earth changing its inclination again Glance at waves rising and falling along the shoreline Perceive the moon revolve around the earth Nature's simplicity enshrouds her complexity Indeed, the fantastic is manifest in the ordinary |
向內彎曲你的手臂並看著彎曲之處 觀察你的心跳 觀看陽光橫跨地板移動 望見地球繞著軸心旋轉 透過窗櫺瞄視月球 見証它移動在地球持續轉動時 盯著花瓶裡一些長梗的花 事先傳送地殼顫動的訊息 觀賞一片葉子在秋天從樹上飄落 你正望見地球改變它的傾斜角度 看鵝群在春天飛往北方 再次望見地球改變它的傾斜角度 瞥見浪潮沿著海岸線起落 察覺月球繞著地球轉動 自然的簡單覆蓋著她的複雜 的確美妙的是實現在平凡中 |
| Kyoto Japan, Jan. 1999 – May 2000 | 日本京都 一九九九年一月至二OOO年五月 |
| A Rare Bird | 稀有的鳥 |
|
The worlds of Eastern art and Western art have started to cross over Beyond the many Occidental artists working in the West And the many Oriental artists working in the East There are Oriental artists working in the West But an Occidental artist working in the East Is a rare bird indeed. |
西方與東方的藝術 開始悄悄越界 除了許多西方藝術家 在西方創作 和許多東方藝術家 在東方創作 也有來自東方的藝術家 在西方創作 但西方藝術家 在東方創作 的確是隻稀有的鳥 |
| Taipei Taiwan, 11/00 | 臺灣臺北 二OOO年 十一月 |
| One in a Million | 百萬分之一 |
|
Out of one million observations One hundred thousand deserve a second look And of these, ten thousand provoke ideas Of which one thousand are considered carefully Leading to one hundred good ideas Of which ten receive efforts towards manifestation Leading to the creation of one new artwork |
一百萬個觀察裡 十萬個值得再次觀看 而這些之中一萬個激發想法 之中一千個被仔細思量 得出一百個好主意 對其中十個加以雕琢 得出一件新的藝術品 |
| Kyoto Japan, 09/00 | 日本京都 二OOO年九月 |
| Educational Reform | 教育改革 |
|
Children express the truth They cry when hurt, hide from fright, laugh with joy And speak with a pure tongue Adults proffer lies They fight to hurt, seek fright for thrills, cry with joy And seldom talk straight So why is it that adults are entrusted to teach children? By whom they are taught to fight and fear and cry And learn to lie Would it not be better for children to teach adults? To learn to cry when hurt, hide from fright, laugh with joy And to speak the truth We require new schools: centres of lower learning Where children are the teachers, and adults their charges The older the adult, the lower the grade The middle-aged study under teenagers And the elderly from babies Until the very young counsel the very aged Imparting most necessary knowledge Newborns babbling at the deathbed |
兒童道出真相 他們受傷時會哭泣躲避恐懼笑中帶著喜悅 而且用純真的口吻說話 成人提出謊言 他們爭吵去傷害尋求恐懼的快感哭中帶著喜悅 而且很少直話直說 所以為什麼成人被賦予教導兒童的責任? 他們被那些人教導去爭吵和恐懼和哭鬧 而且學習說謊 讓兒童去教導成人不是比較好嗎？ 去學習受傷時哭泣躲避恐懼笑中帶著喜悅 而且訴說真相 我們需要新學校低階學習的中心 在那裡兒童是老師而成人受他們掌管 年紀愈大的成人年級愈低 中年人向青少年學習 而老年人向嬰兒 直到非常年輕的輔導非常年長的 傳承最必要的知識 新生兒在臨死之人的床邊呢喃 |
| Kyoto Japan, 2/99 | 日本京都 一九九九年 二月 |
| What an Idiot | 百萬分之一 |
|
Gazing at the horizon but can’t see my own eyelashes Screaming with laughter but forgetting the joke Laughing with sadness and weeping with joy Buying flowers to give to a stranger Purchasing brushes to put in a box Collecting ephemera to make fine art Keeping the package and discarding the product Smashing the cup and then filling it up Recognizing a friendly face and turning away Seeing a stranger and wanting to make love Writing a letter and tearing it up Carrying much luggage to be unburdened Walking for hours with nowhere to go Traveling for years but I never arrive |
盯著水平線卻看不見我自己的睫毛 叫著笑著卻忘了笑話 歡笑中有悲傷而哭泣中有喜悅 買花給陌生人 購買毛筆去放在盒子裡 收集廢棄物去創造藝術品 保存包裝而丟棄產品 打破茶杯然後將之倒滿 辨識出一張和善的臉孔然後掉頭離開 看到一個陌生人而想要做愛 寫一封信然後撕毀 攜帶很多行李去減輕負擔 走上數小時卻沒有要去的地方 長年旅行我卻不曾到達 |
| Nara Japan, 02/98 | 日本奈良一九九八年二月 |
| Too Close for Comfort | 太近的不自在 |
|
Parachuting in and rocketing out Foreign artist and their work Is a safer and more hygienic method Of procuring exotic goods Than opening the door To a foreign artist working locally With the risk of banal reflection Or dangerously relevant ideas |
空降進入又如火箭般射出 外國藝術家和他們的作品 是一種較安全和清潔的方式 取得奇異的藝術品 比敞開門 迎接在本地工作的外國藝術家 冒著反映平凡的風險 或是同樣危險的意念 |
| Kyoto, Japan, 11/00 | 日本，京都 二OOO年十一月 |
| This Night | 今夜 |
|
This night The maple leaves Reach higher And shine brighter Than the moon |
今夜 楓葉 伸展的更高 皎潔 更勝月亮 |
| Kyoto, Japan, 11/00 | 日本京都 二OOO年 十一月 |