THE CHILDREN OF MYANMAR 緬甸的孩子

CONTENTS

	THE CHILDREN OF MYANMAR 緬甸的孩子 By CHEN I-chih 陳義芝 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	GRANNY’S STATE OF MIND 阿嬤的心思 By TING Wen-Chih 丁文智 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	AQUARIUM, WITH TWO SIDETRACKS 水族箱（外二首） By Chang Kun 張堃 Translated by Zona Yi-Ping TSOU 鄒怡平

	URBAN CHILDHOOD 都市童年 By FONG Ming 方明 Translated by Zona Yi-Ping TSOU 鄒怡平

	WHITE HAIR 白髮 By Lo Ti 落蒂 Translated by Zona Yi-Ping TSOU 鄒怡平

	MOTES OF SUNLIGHT— In Gratitude to Ya Hsien 陽光顆粒—謝瘂弦 By Hsiang Ming 向明 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	VISITING THE BLUE GROTTO— Grotta Azzurra, Italy, 1998 航向藍洞 By Jiao Tong 焦桐 Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

	APRIL 四月 By Hsia Ching 夏菁 Translated by C. W. WANG 王季文

	FEELINGS RUN DEEP 古井情深 By YANG Wen Wei 楊文瑋 Translated by James Scott WILLIAMS 衛高翔

	A NOTICE IN SEARCH OF A MISSING PERSON 尋人啟事 By CHANG Ai-chin 張愛金 Translated by Shou-Fang HU-MOORE 胡守芳

	YOUTH IN NANGAN 少年南竿 By CHIANG Hsun 蔣勳 Translated by Jonathan R. BARNARD 柏松年

	YOUTH IN TONGXIAO 少年通霄 By CHIANG Hsun 蔣勳 Translated by Jonathan R. BARNARD 柏松年

	HIROSHIMA LOVE 廣島之戀 By RUAN Ching-Yue 阮慶岳 Translated by David and Ellen DETERDING 戴德巍與陳艷玲

	FROM “CHINA” TO “TAIWAN” WHAT MESSAGES CAN WE GET FROM THE ART OF LEE MING-TSE? 從「中國」到「台灣」李明則的藝術給了我們什麼訊息？ By Hong-ming TSAI 蔡宏明 Translated by David van der Peet 范德培

	FROM “DANDY” TO “WILD CURSIVE SCRIPT” : FALSE FEELINGS AND TRUE DESIRES IN THE ART OT LEE MING-TSE 從「公子哥」到「狂草」—談李明則藝術中的虛情真欲 By Shui-tsai CHEN 陳水財 Translated by David van der Peet 范德培

	NEWS & EVENTS 文化活動 Compiled by Sarah Jen-hui HSIANG 項人慧

	NOTES ON AUTHORS AND TRANSLATORS 作者與譯者簡介

	APPENDIX : CHINESE ORIGINALS 附錄：中文原著

	BLOSSOM OF BANABA 香蕉花, acrylic on paper, 52 × 33.5 cm, 1993...............................................Cover

	FAIRY 神女, acrylic on paper pulp, 22 × 23 cm, 2008 ..............................................................Back Cover By Lee Ming-tse 李明則

CHEN I-chih 陳義芝

THE CHILDREN OF MYANMAR
緬甸的孩子*

Translated by John J. S. BALCOM 陶忘機

──More than 130,000 people died in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. A month after the disaster, hundreds of thousands lived unaided in the mud amid the stench of rotting corpses. The Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society of Taiwan took the lead by adopting two thousand orphans.

Myanmar is a village forgotten
By the global family of this world.

The military junta will not be forgotten.
Aung San Suu Ki will not be forgotten.

    But the riverbanks blown away by Cyclone Nargis have
        been forgotten.
    The rice fields swept away by the Ayeyarwady have been
        forgotten.

    Silent are the children hurled through the air by the         counterclockwise
    Cyclone, unseen and therefore forgotten.

    Silent are the children cast into the water by the cyclone,
        swirling
    Counterclockwise, unsaved and therefore forgotten.

    What are seeds like that rot in the earth?
    Thus are the children of Myanmar.

    Though they live, they lie in their graves,
    Their future held prisoner.

    Like the filthy water that will not recede, the floating         corpses
    That won’t go away, no one sees the village of Myanmar;

    And even if noticed, they would soon be forgotten.
    The children who lost their parents to the reverse cyclone

    Dig wells under the moon to bury their former selves, then
    Walk to the undamaged temple for a bottle of clean water.

    They are doomed to be forgotten, whether in
    Another fifty years, or ten, or in just ten days.

*	From Chen, I-chih’s 陳義芝 collectionof poetry Pien chieh. [The boundry]. Taipei: Chiuko Publishing, 2009, 120-122.