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Poems on the MRT

伞内·伞外 / Within/Without by Dan Ying

 

伞内·伞外
淡莹

玲珑的三摺花伞
一节又一节
把热带的雨季
乍然旋开了

我不知该往何处
会你，伞内，还是伞外
然后共撑一小块晴天
让淅沥的雨声
轻轻且富韵律地
敲打着古老的回忆

听雨的青涩年龄
管它是否已尾随
喧噪了一个夏季的
蝉叫，陷进泥潭
只要撑着伞内的春
我们便拥有一切，包括
沼泽里笨拙的蛙鸣

二月底三月初
我摺起伞外的雨季
你敢不敢也摺起我
收在贴胸的口袋里
黄昏时，在望园楼
看一抹霞色
如何从我双颊飞起
染红湖上一轮落日

Within/Without
Written by Dan Ying
Translated by Joshua Ip

a slim trifold umbrella
rib by rib
swirls the monsoon
away

i never know where
to meet you, under its shade, or outside
to hold up this piece of clear sky together
and let the rhythm of the rain gently
drum the pulse of ancient memories

the green years – listening to rain
no matter if it trails behind
the clamour of the summer’s
cicadas, trapped in mud
as long as we hold up this spine of spring
we can have it all, even
the swamp’s clumsy frogsong

as February turns to March
I furl the season of rain into its folds
and do you dare to fold me away as well
and keep me in a pocket near your heart
the viewing tower at dusk –
see the crimson smear
its way across my cheeks
and dye the waning sun over the lake

Known by her pseudonym as Dan Ying (淡莹), Lew Poo Chan (刘宝珍) graduated from National Taiwan University and received her M.A. from the University of Wisconsin. She has taught at the University of California (Santa Barbara), Nanyang University and the National University of Singapore. She has published five volumes of poetry. Her poems have been translated into English for various anthologies like Twentieth-Century Chinese Women’s Poetry: An Anthology (2009) and Memories and Desires: A Poetic History of Singapore (1998). Her poetry has received many awards, including two National Book Development Council of Singapore Poetry Awards; the Southeast Asia Write Award (1995), the Cultural Medallion (1996), and the NUS-Montblanc Literary Award (1998). Her most recent work is a collection of prose entitled Collected Prose writings of Dan Ying (淡莹散 文集) published in 2004.

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Poems on the MRT is an initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with SMRT and Stellar Ace. Produced by Sing Lit Station, a local literary non-profit organisation, this collaboration displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT’s train network, integrating local literature into the daily experience of commuters. Look out for poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil in trains on the East-West, North-South and Circle Lines, as well as videos created by local artists and featuring local poets in stations and on trains. The Chinese, Malay, and Tamil poems are available in both the original languages and English. To enjoy the full poems, commuters may read them on go.gov.sg/potm.

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