◉ Afterword: Living Between Languages
◉ Three Poems
◉ Anything but Human 大重啟
@ TrendLit Publishing

Expression
of Contentment

by Daryl Lim Wei Jie

I am extraordinarily     really very
comfortable    even my toes have gone for
psychoanalysis and my nose hairs have
their favourite brand of chips                                 
(sour cream     never barbecue)

The tree outside my flat
turned blue and I said
nothing

and all morning the clouds
grew pregnant
with knives       and I said nothing

and the table is cleaner than ever—
there has been an utter genocide
of dust                 

it’s crazy              I am so comfortable
my thighs have turned to organic jam
and my tongue is purple  

though

outside of a sundae
do you know what a strawberry          
tastes like?

.

心滿意足的表現方式

譯者：Ang Lai Sheng 汪來昇

我感到無比的　超凡的
舒適　連我的腳趾頭都移送
精神分析，甚至我的鼻毛都有了
自己鍾愛的洋芋片口味
（奶香焗烤　絕不能是燒烤風味）

我組屋外的樹木
變藍了，我都未曾
言語

以及整個早晨的雲朵
懷孕了
懷上了刀子　我亦未曾言語

桌子比以前更乾淨了——
這塵埃
都已被滅絕殆盡了

如此瘋狂　　我卻如此舒適
我的大腿已變成了有機果醬
而我的舌頭也化紫了

　　然而

除聖代以外
你可知道草莓
是何滋味？

Love in a Time
of Intermittent Fasting

by Daryl Lim Wei Jie

The present persists, regrettably, as the past
is digested into a sticky, scentless ball. Painfully beautiful, 
we danced like prototypes of the new master race.
Hit me up before the glaciers dwindle
and leave us a supper of stale water.
The bitterness of aspartame haunts me like
a leaf-fringed legend. A clove hitch is really just two loops,
you said, before suggesting an open relationship.
The janitor knows our secrets, with his cheek of cracked
bitumen and squeaky army boots. Please tell me you hate me,
but not before the asparagus is in season.
I often think about the untranslatability of our pain.
The light was jasper, our faces were sharper by it, and
fortunately they were out of starters, mains and desserts.

.

愛在間歇性斷食時

譯者：Ang Lai Sheng 汪來昇

當下持續存在，遺憾是，往昔
被消化成一個黏糊糊、無味的球。怪是美麗的，
我們像是新興人種的研發樣本在舞蹈。
在冰川消失之前，聯繫於我
並給我們留下一灘死水作宵夜
阿斯巴甜¹的苦澀，縈繞著我
像是「繞葉的傳奇」²一樣。你說著雙套結³
就只是兩個相同的半結，然後建議開放式關係。
清潔工知道我們的秘密，由他臉頰上若龜裂的
瀝青和吱吱作響的軍靴可知。請告訴我你討厭我，
但別在蘆筍發芽季節裡說。
我經常想起，我們痛苦得無法釋譯。
光芒如碧玉，將我們的臉龐映照得瘦削些，而 幸運的是，他們的開胃菜、主菜和甜點皆已售罄。

1. 阿斯巴甜（Aspartame）：是一種低熱量的人工甜味劑，常用於各種無糖或低糖飲料和食品。 ↩︎
2. 繞葉的傳奇（leaf-fring’d legend）：詩人引用了約翰•濟慈（John Keats）的《希臘古甕頌》（Ode on a Grecian Urn）作為典故／互文，原文翻譯為「繞葉的傳奇來妝點形體」（What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape）。這裡的「繞葉的傳奇」可理解為葉子的邊緣，或是裝飾框邊，而「傳奇」指的是故事，整句可以解讀為「是什麼關於葉子邊緣的故事可以一直圍繞著希臘古甕的彩繪」，即一種反覆地自我詢問與哲學思想的拷問。 ↩︎
3. 雙套結（Clove Hitch）：是一種由兩個完全相同的半結組成的繩結。 ↩︎

Cloisters

by Daryl Lim Wei Jie

The face of an unknown god beams forth from
the incinerated croque madame

The appeal of apples
has fallen considerably

Looking in the toilet’s mirror I feel magic
leaking slowly from me

The holy spirit oozes from the cupcake’s centre
Every utterance is sonorous and without consequence

Monks in the corner chant truth beauty beauty truth
This joint accepts firstborns and American Express

As I admire how each morsel of croissant glistens
in the bug-zapping light, I think:

What is this pain but a premonition
of our Lord’s angular beauty?

.

修道院迴廊

譯者：Ang Lai Sheng 汪來昇

一位未知神祇的臉龐
在焚燒的法式火腿蛋吐司中閃耀

蘋果的吸引力
已大幅減弱

凝望洗手間裡鏡中的自己，我感受到
魔力，緩緩從我身體裡流失

聖靈從杯子蛋糕的中心滲出
句句話語都低沉而無關緊要

僧侶們在角落裡詠唱著「真善美、美善真 」
這裡接受新生命，以及美國運通卡

當我欣賞著每一口牛角麵包，在滅蟲燈下
閃閃發光時，我心想： 這痛楚除了是主的臉龐
那棱角分明之美的預兆外，還能是什麼？

How to cite: Ang, Lai Sheng and Daryl Lim Wei Jie. “Anything but Human: Three Poems.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 10 Sept. 2025, chajournal.blog/2025/09/10/human-poems.

Ang Lai Sheng 汪来昇 (1987–) is a Singaporean writer, poet, translator, publisher, and columnist, and the Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of TrendLit Publishing. His literary works and essays have been published in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. He is the author of the poetry collections After Commotion, The Void (2014) and Destroy All Gods (2016); editor of anthologies including Never Before: 50 Essential Poems (2018), Streets and Places of Singapore (two volumes, 2022 and 2025), and Impressions of Singapore (2023); and translator of Anything but Human (2025) and The World May Say This, But I Believe That! (2025). Ang actively champions emerging voices and fosters literary dialogue across Singapore and the region. He is regularly invited to share his insights in public talks, conducts writing workshops, and helps shape new literary trends. Twice appointed Writer-in-Residence by Singapore’s Ministry of Education for the Chinese Language Elective Programme (2022 and 2025) and invited as a panellist at the Frankfurt Book Fair (2024), he was honoured with the 2023 NTU School of Humanities Alumni Award for his outstanding contributions to literature and publishing.

Daryl Lim Wei Jie 林伟杰 is a poet, translator and editor from Singapore. His latest collection, Anything but Human, was a finalist for the Singapore Literature Prize. He conceptualised two anthologies: Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet, which received a Special Award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards;and The Second Link, a collection of Singapore and Malaysian writing about the unique relationship between the two countries, shortlisted for Best Literary Work at the Singapore Book Awards. In 2023, he was awarded the Young Artist Award, Singapore’s highest honour for young art practitioners. He is currently working on the video gaming anthology, Free to Play.  www.darylwjlim.com (Photo credit: The National Arts Council, Singapore) [Daryl Lim Wei Jie & chajournal.blog.]

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