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Poems on the MRT

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二老走植物园·其二 / Two Elders Stroll in the Botanic Gardens No. 2 by Lin Gao

 

二老走植物园·其二
林高

01
拂!轻轻就过去啦
好呀，想象自己是风
你一缕我一缕到那里是那里
不就是了吗御风而行
那边坐那边凉
老冉冉了我们
那边五彩缤纷好香

02
我们都是一片叶子
飘落到地上到湖里
公园里蝴蝶是叶子变的
好呀，想象自己是蝴蝶
飞向花开，风度翩翩
不如鸟，每天飞来我们家的雨树叫
飞机飞，鸟是鸟
我宁愿是叶子变作蝴蝶

03
谁知道呢，明天雨打风吹去
比如去看折子戏，自己不是舞台
毕竟叶子只是叶子
叶子就叶子呵
你看那些树多美
你叫不出名字
你觉得美就好

04
多识于鸟兽草木之名
可惜孔夫子的裤袋破个洞
丢了昨天记不住今天
植物园里名字一大串霹雳啪啦响
如果叫得出
万紫千红不都一样

05
申遗成功，走路有风
吹进心里，吹到脸庞
时间创造了历史
日常创造了时间
记得吗，那场雨
跑进音乐厅送别四十年前
我们老而不老
最后一站所以去看胡姬呀
花谢花开一直青春
23-6-2021 早报.文艺城

Two Elders Stroll in the Botanic Gardens, No. 2
Written by Lin Gao
Translated by Joshua Ip

a gentle sweep, and it’s away
yes, imagine us as wind
a wisp of you, a wisp of me wandering wheresoever
isn’t that it? wielding the wind wayward
where we sit is where we’re wafted
wearing our wane, we –
there, what rainbow-hued, what sweet!

we are a layer of leaves
drifting to earth, to lake
in this garden, the butterflies are leaves reborn
yes, imagine us as butterflies
flitting towards the blooms, gliding with grace
not like the koels, whooping daily from our rain tree
if a plane planes and a bird birds
i’d rather be a butterfly that leaves

who knew – tomorrow’s hurly-burlies
as if watching a short play, where you are not the stage
after all leaves are only leaves
and leaves leave
look how beautiful those trees are
with their unpronounceable names
isn’t beauty enough

to know the names of flora and fauna –
oops, confucius has a hole in his pocket
yesterday slipped away and he can’t hold today
the names in the gardens like a splatter of fireworks
if you could pronounce each one of them
the kaleidoscope would shake

we are a heritage site, so walk with wind in our sleeves
wafting our hearts, rustling our faces
it takes time to create history
it takes everyday to create time
do you remember, that bout of rain
that dashed into the farewell concert four decades ago
we are old but not aged
and that’s why the last stop is to see the orchids
which bloom and fade, but always, spring.


Published in 一只飞行的水晶 (World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd 2023)
and A Flying Crystal (Pagesetters Services 2023)

Lin Gao (林高) is the pen name of Lim Hung Chang (林汉精). Born in 1949, he grew up in Cheng San village (located in present-day Ang Mo Kio New Town). Lin Gao started writing in the 1970s, and his works included essays, novels and critical reviews. After turning sixty, he became obsessed with writing poetry. He served as a council member and vice president of the Singapore Association of Writers. In 2013, he was a writer-in-residence under the TOJI Cultural Residency in South Korea. He won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2014 and the Singapore Cultural Medallion in 2015. His works include The Feeling of being Chased, Micro Fictions by Lin Gao, Framing the Worldly Matters: Flash Fiction by Lin Gao, Reading by the Window (critical reviews), Poetic Encounter (critical reviews), Remember, Vision in solitude: The literary world of Yeng Pway Ngon. and A Flying Crystal.

林高，原名林汉精。一九四九年生于新加坡静山村 。台湾大学文学士、华中师范大学 硕士。创作文体包括散文、小说、新诗和评论。曾任新加坡作家协会理事、副会长。1992年与周粲等文友创刊《微型小说季刊》并任编辑。1993年召集青年作者创办 《后来》四月刊。1997年创刊儿童文学半年刊《萤火虫》和《百灵鸟》并担任主编 。2013年赴韩国参加为期三个月“TOJI文化馆驻馆作家计划”。2014年获新加坡文学奖。2015年获颁新加坡文化奖。著作有《被追逐的滋味》《笼子里的心》《林高微型小 说》 《遇见诗》《框起人间事》《记得》《孤独瞭望》《一只飞行的水晶》等。

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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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