Little Things
by Geraldine Heng
(written during the Chinese moon-cake and lantern festival)
we were a crooked line of giggling children
untidy-happy
delight burning on our faces
brighter than the muted flickers of light
straining to be released
from paint-gay lanterns
earnest hands tightly clutched
bamboo rods from which hung
our lives and souls and
concentration
in kaleidoscopic cellophane
and bits of wire and bamboo
our hearts weaving
excitement and adventure
into a tiny red candle
and as the minute flame
leaped and capered
so did we
even the dark around us
seemed to cheer and clap its hands
to lusty singing and laughter-gurgles
and today
there we are in the streets again
our eyes shining in their faces
our hearts laughing in small bodies
aglow with lantern-light
lanterns never go out
今天,在朋友的面書上看到這一首寫得很漂亮的詩。出生于新加坡的Geraldine Heng 目前在University of Texas at Austin 的英語系與比較文學部門任教。她的簡歷如下:
Geraldine Heng is Perceval Fellow and Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, with a joint appointment in Middle Eastern studies and Women’s studies. She holds the Perceval endowment for Medieval Romance, Historiography, and Culture, an endowment created to support her research and teaching.
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/english/faculty/heng
特喜歡她這幾句:
and as the minute flame
leaped and capered
so did we
even the dark around us
seemed to cheer and clap its hands
to lusty singing and laughter-gurgles....
是的,有的時候我們這身軀,常會被很多的東西纏繞着 (有形無形的責任、打擊、挫折、老、病、死)。今天,讀這首詩,我的回應是,讓燈籠升空。