About the Poet: Chen Hsiu-chen 陳秀珍
Chen Hsiu-chen 陳秀珍 ,born in Taiwan, graduated from Department of Chinese Literature in Tamkang University and has been served as an editor in newspaper and magazines, now is one of the editor members of “Li Poetry Sociaty”. Her publications include essay “A Diary About My Son, 2009”, poetry “String Echo in Forest, 2010”, ”Mask, 2018”, “Uncertain Landscape, 2017”, “Tamsui poetry, 2018”and “BoneFracture, 2018”, Mandarin-English-Spanish trilingual “Promise, 2017” as well as Mandarin-English “My Beloved Neruda,2020”.
Her poems have been selected into Mandarin-English-Spanish trilingual anthologies “Poetry Road Between Two-Hemispheres, 2015” and “Voices from Taiwan, 2017”, Spanish “Opus Testimoni, 2017”, Italian “Dialoghi, 2017” and “Quaderni di traduzione, 2018”, as well as English “Whispers of Soflay, Vol. 2, 2018” , “Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2018”,and “Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2019”. Her poems have been also translated into Bengali, Albanian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Romanian, Hindi, Nepali, Sindhi, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Polish,Catalan, Serbian, Arabic and the like.
She participated Formosa International Poetry Festivals in Taiwan held in 2015~2019 annually, Kathak International Poets Summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
2016, International Poetry Festival “Ditët e Naimit” in Tetova, Macedonia, 2016, Capulí Vallejo y su Tierra in Peru, 2017, International Poetry Festival of Sidi Bou Saïd Tunisia, 2018, “Tras las Huellas del Poeta”in Chile, 2018, 3rd International Poetry Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2019, 6thIasi International Poetry Festival in Romania, 2019, as well as Primer Festival Internacional de Poesía por Ediciones El nido del fénix, 2019. She was awarded with estrella matutina by Festival of Capulí Vallejo y su Tierra in Peru, 2018. Lebanon Naji Naaman Literary Prizes 2020.
English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢
AT DUSK
The trees
lift their thousand hands and fingers high
to capture the tired birds.
From the sparse forest
there are light-emitting eyes
in peeking.
We are sitting in the car to count
the eyes
the eyes more and more.
During the journey of slight vibration
like in a cradle slowly shaken
the night atmosphere becomes a valid amulet.
I am seeking
a broad shoulder for my head to rest
as a warm bed in my dream.
Oh, my Neruda,
no cumbersome visa is necessary to my dreamland
rather a free evaluation of the evidence.
I promise you free entry
for hundred
or thousand times.
（English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢）
GRAFFITI
Along the steep slope in Valparaiso
a graffiti street
is painted with colorful drawings
without any blank vacancy,
showing optimistic characters
of Latin American.
The graffiti
on the walls one after another
tell respective colorful story in competition.
Even the old houses
still have a youthful face
displaying no age spots.
Oh, my Neruda,
my fracture caused by car accident
left a dark purple scar on my leg
deeply depressed
looked like an ugly lane.
I should learn to imitate Chilean people
to draw on my scars
a graffito with one red rose.
（English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢）
SHADING
–Seabirds at Isla Negra
On the Pacific shore
I clearly heard
a seabird
flapping its wings definitely
to declare a fiery love toward the sky.
At Isla Negra
this seabird has once abandoned whole sky
now flushes with two wings to shade
its shy face
and cringing feet.
Oh, my Neruda,
in your boundless blue sky
you cannot see
even impossible to imagine
its skillful flying.
（English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢）
Moonrise at Vicuña
Our car climbed to higher altitude
arriving at the high mountain
earlier than the first star.
Millions of stars are all present
still waiting for no full moon.
Some stars are sleeping
some stars have caught cold
some stars turned to blue.
Raise a campfire burnt to become the sun.
Drink red wine to warm the love in avoidance of drowsiness.
Oh, my Neruda,
has the moon already abandoned whole sky?
I am about to close my eyes
giving up to wait
wait for the abandoned moon
suddenly projecting out of the depression of distant mountains
a pure gold brilliant ray.
Ah
more and more stars are all crying.
Full moon illuminates
my ear that was cut by the crescent moon during my childhood.
Moonlight induces the poets to display inherent essence
in stretching their necks and opening their big bloody mouths.
The poets sound the wolf howls
shaking the valley at Vicuña.
Golden moon not swallowed by wolves
still guards
the dream in springtime at Vicuña.
（English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢）
ISLA NEGRA
The sky embraces the ocean,
the ocean kisses the heaven.
Exciting vocal cords of the tides
are unable to cover up
the streaming footsteps of your beloved and yourself.
Push aside the romantic weaving white quilt,
leave the pillow for diving morning sun,
your heartbeat is clearly heard.
How can you firm your believe
in the secret hidden within love?
The secret is a mysterious gift packaged
in a cloud paper placed under the Christmas tree
inducing each hand
a desire to peek.
I break into your original private residence.
Oh, my Neruda,
please tell me about
the secret hidden within your love.
I have opened my ears
as large as the sky.
I heard
the rolling waves
constantly hitting the rocks with naked figure.
（English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢）
Poems by Chen Hsiu-chen 陳秀珍（Taiwan）
English Translation by Lee Kuei-shien李魁賢
1 耳鉤（Taiwanese）Earrings
是安怎耳孔復再不時聽著
叮叮噹噹
叮叮噹噹
耳鉤在搖振動的聲
被耳鉤孔拘留的時瞬
耳鉤見證
誠濟山盟海誓
海乾石爛晉前
耳鉤無智慧判斷
情人的真心
是不是會乾會爛
被人數念
被人叫著名
耳孔就會親像急性發炎
遐爾仔癢
耳鉤
敢會慣習復再一遍得到自由
敢會日思夜夢
耳孔邊的詛咒
聶魯達啊
詛咒是春風
耳鉤捌等待
隨時被伊吹振動
1 Earrings耳鉤
When the earrings are lost
the earlobes return to freedom.
Why your ears still from time to time
resound jingle bells from
the earrings?
The earrings, when detained by
the ear holes, make a witness
that it has no wisdom to judge
what will be happened about the real heart of lover
before drying up of the sea and decay of the stone
as so many promises under a vow.
When missed
or called by someone
the ears will be itchy
just like an acute inflammation.
Whether the earrings
will be used to regaining freedom
or will miss the vow in the ears
day and night?
Oh, my Neruda,
the vow is a spring breeze
that the earrings have been waiting
for vibration by it at any time.
（Translated by Kuei–shien Lee）
2 人佮神（Taiwanese）People and God
戰爭的雙方
信仰共款的神
倒爿深深相信 真理企在家己這爿
正爿深深相信 公義企在家己這爿
雙方同時向共款的神
求保庇共一個戰場的勝利
神家己分裂做兩爿
不知欲安怎才好
戰爭的雙方
信仰無共款的神
雙方分別拜請家己的神
保庇共一個戰場勝利
倒爿深深相信家己這爿穩贏
正爿深深相信對方穩輸
人佮人的戰爭演變成
無辜的
神佮神的戰爭
人用砲彈決定
誰的神
才是真神
2 People and God 人佮神
The people on both sides of the war
believe the same God.
The left side insists——the truth is ours,
The right side insists——the justice is ours.
Both sides face toward the same God at same time
to pray for the victory on the same battlefield.
The God is separated into two halves
and caught in a dilemma.
The people on both sides of the war
believe different Gods.
Both sides face toward own God to pray
for the victory on the same battlefield.
The left side insists own to be victory,
The right side insists opposite to be defeated.
The war between people and people
becomes an innocent war
between God and God.
The people utilizes missiles to decide
whose God
is a real one.
（Translated by Kuei–shien Lee）
3 雕像（Taiwanese）The Sculpture
被雕刻家歕一下風的雕像
有真濟無共款的面向
有一寡仔面相目珠神祕親像深坑
有一寡仔面相目珠親像白色火炎
有的目珠央望有真菴的目睫毛
有的目珠央望有黑色目珠仁
有的目珠仁央望有目水（sai）
在永遠的時間內底
我急欲等待一尊雕像
對我講一句真心話
在永遠的等待內底
雕像繼續醉茫茫
在時間的永遠內底
雕像自頭到尾統沒開嘴
不過親像全部講了了
我時常為著永遠講足多
終歸尾遂什麼統無講
3 The Sculpture雕像
The sculpture carefully crafted by the sculptor
displays various different aspects.
In some aspects its eyes are as mysterious as secluded valley.
In some aspects its eyes are as shining as white flame.
Some eyes long for dense eyelashes.
Some eyes long for black eyeballs.
Some eyes long for tear drops.
In the everlasting time
I wait impatiently for one statue
saying one true word to me.
During the perpetual waiting
the sculpture continuously addicts to
the temporal eternity.
The sculpture keeps silent,
yet speaks out everything.
I always say much for pursuing eternity,
yet nothing after all.
（Translated by Kuei–shien Lee）
4 等（Taiwanese）Waiting
我到橋上
癡癡等你
又過了
一個沒有你的白天
橋在水上
等我
又過了
擁有我的一個夜晚
我在橋上等你好幾年
橋在水上等我好幾個世紀
橋有秋風的嘆息
我有流血的心
4 Waiting等
I have waited for you
on the bridge
for another whole day
without finding you.
The bridge has waited for me
on the water
for another whole night
with holding me.
I have waited for you
on the bridge for years,
the bridge has waited for me
on the water for centuries.
The bridge sighs with an autumn wind,
I bleed out of my heart.
（Translated by Lee Kuei-shien）
5 我願意（Taiwanese）I Will
我願意
在秋尾天為你火燒
予你紅色的溫暖
不過你愛的是
皆片春天的樹林
我只不過是
一叢孤單的楓樹
5 I Will 我願意
I will
burn myself in late autumn
providing you a reddish warm
But you rather want
a whole forest in spring time
while I am just a maple tree alone
（Translated by Lee Kuei-shien）
【About the Poet】
Chen Hsiu-chen陳秀珍,born in Taiwan, graduated from Department of Chinese Literature in Tamkang University and has been served as an editor in newspaper and magazines, now is one of the editor members of “Li Poetry Sociaty”. Her publications include essay “A Diary About My Son, 2009”, poetry “String Echo in Forest, 2010”, ”Mask, 2018”, “Uncertain Landscape, 2017”, “Tamsui poetry, 2018”and “BoneFracture, 2018”, Mandarin-English-Spanish trilingual “Promise, 2017” as well as Mandarin-English “My Beloved Neruda,2020”.
Her poems have been selected into Mandarin-English-Spanish trilingual anthologies “Poetry Road Between Two-Hemispheres, 2015” and “Voices from Taiwan, 2017”, Spanish “Opus Testimoni, 2017”, Italian “Dialoghi, 2017” and “Quaderni di traduzione, 2018”, as well as English “Whispers of Soflay, Vol. 2, 2018” , “Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2018”,and “Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2019”. Her poems have been also translated into Bengali, Albanian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Romanian, Hindi, Nepali, Sindhi, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Polish,Catalan, Serbian, Arabic and the like.
She participated Formosa International Poetry Festivals in Taiwan held in 2015~2019 annually, Kathak International Poets Summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
2016, International Poetry Festival “Ditët e Naimit” in Tetova, Macedonia, 2016, Capulí Vallejo y su Tierra in Peru, 2017, International Poetry Festival of Sidi Bou Saïd Tunisia, 2018, “Tras las Huellas del Poeta”in Chile, 2018, 3rd International Poetry Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2019, 6thIasi International Poetry Festival in Romania, 2019, as well as Primer Festival Internacional de Poesía por Ediciones El nido del fénix, 2019. She was awarded with estrella matutina by Festival of Capulí Vallejo y su Tierra in Peru, 2018. Lebanon Naji Naaman Literary Prizes 2020.
【About the Poet】
Chen Hsiu-chen陳秀珍,born in Taiwan, graduated from Department of Chinese Literature in Tamkang University and has been served as an editor in newspaper and magazines, now is one of the editor members of “Li Poetry Sociaty”. Her publications include essay “A Diary About My Son, 2009”, poetry “String Echo in Forest, 2010”, ”Mask, 2018”, “Uncertain Landscape, 2017”, “Tamsui poetry, 2018”and “BoneFracture, 2018”, Mandarin-English-Spanish trilingual “Promise, 2017” as well as Mandarin-English “My Beloved Neruda,2020”.
Her poems have been selected into Mandarin-English-Spanish trilingual anthologies “Poetry Road Between Two-Hemispheres, 2015” and “Voices from Taiwan, 2017”, Spanish “Opus Testimoni, 2017”, Italian “Dialoghi, 2017” and “Quaderni di traduzione, 2018”, as well as English “Whispers of Soflay, Vol. 2, 2018” , “Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2018”,and “Amaravati Poetic Prism, 2019”. Her poems have been also translated into Bengali, Albanian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Romanian, Hindi, Nepali, Sindhi, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Polish,Catalan, Serbian, Arabic and the like.
She participated Formosa International Poetry Festivals in Taiwan held in 2015~2019 annually, Kathak International Poets Summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
2016, International Poetry Festival “Ditët e Naimit” in Tetova, Macedonia, 2016, Capulí Vallejo y su Tierra in Peru, 2017, International Poetry Festival of Sidi Bou Saïd Tunisia, 2018, “Tras las Huellas del Poeta”in Chile, 2018, 3rd International Poetry Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2019, 6thIasi International Poetry Festival in Romania, 2019, as well as Primer Festival Internacional de Poesía por Ediciones El nido del fénix, 2019. She was awarded with estrella matutina by Festival of Capulí Vallejo y su Tierra in Peru, 2018. Lebanon Naji Naaman Literary Prizes 2020.