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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Peter Gordon and Juan José Morales, Painter and Patron: The Maritime Silk Road in the Códice Casanatense, Abbreviated Press, 2020. 102…
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Poetry / June/July 2019 (Issue 44) June 六月by Xi Xi, translated from the Chinese by Jennifer Feeley 六月 牆上掛著幅抽象畫,兩旁是巨型書架能夠坐在這裏一塊兒聊天真好。你的女兒在中央美術院念書,我們剛好帶了冊亨利摩亞送給她 你帶我們去逛民辦、書舍,過兩條街還有唱搖滾樂的咖啡店,喇嘛廟旁住著坐在輪椅上沈思的作家。除夕子夜,揮手再見,清晨八點,你撥電話來報訊:下雪了從飯店的露台我們看見,銀白美麗的長安街樓房的屋頂,灑遍童話世界的糖粉 每年六月,我們孕育遠行的夢,看一點山水,買一點書探訪朋友。六月又來了,天色詭異、你們那裏驟然雪崩,透過熒光屏幕,坦示慘白的廣場,都城滿罩濃霜,寒流不斷擴散,所有的人震驚 這麼嚴峻的六月你好麼?只有降溫的消息,太冷太冷了,遠方的景物凝結成冰我們的夢氣球一一凍裂。攤開地圖,不知道兩隻腳,還可以選擇哪一個方向 一九八九•七•四 JUNE On the wall hungan abstract painting flankedby huge bookcasesHow nice it wasto sit togetherjust chattering away…
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Poetry / March 2015 (Issue 27) Lebanon 黎巴嫩by Xi Xi, translated from the Chinese by Jennifer Feeley 黎巴嫩 這麼美麗的國家,沒有戰爭多麼好狹長的葉形版圖,河道脈絡縱橫灰綠的橄欖林覆蓋濕潤的紅土柑橘堆疊櫃臺,香蕉串垂果攤連綿的海岸線,良港名城如圖釘懸崖上仍聳立著十字軍巍峨的城堡面向澄澈碧藍的地中海終年積雪的山脈,遙遙對照一座叫黎巴嫩,另一座叫反黎巴嫩針鋒相對,一樣和平相處共同守護貝加谷地,帶來風調雨順盛產葡萄,當然就好酒 還以為是慶曲的海報,聖誕紅框邊,裁出一片純白的空間背景是雪地吧,中央屹立無比婆娑枝葉茂密的香柏原來是國旗,仿佛永遠的耶誕正是十二月下旬,城鄉處處燈盞璀璨如同裝置藝展,新月剛露出彎角,齊戒月就開始了這邊,守齋的守齋,那邊唱聖詩的唱聖詩,一座宗教博物館到處是清真寺,到處是教堂回教,基督教,天主教,東正教教派林立,沒有國教,信仰自由中世紀的諾曼王國,因為兼容成為高度文明輝煌富庶的城邦 自謙是小小國家,如果僅是沙漠地大有何用,人口四百萬只有香港的一半,我認為也寬敞了不產石油,卻是貿易轉運站不需要內陸航機,四百萬人擁有四百萬輛私家汽車,一美元十公升汽油,街上沒有吃角子老虎政府懂得還富於民;總統是基督徒首相是穆斯林,正是一國兩制內閣成員,不同宗教各佔半數不是也可以融洽相處了麼?單一的聲音不等於和諧 貝魯特市中心的樓宇,經過十七年內戰倒塌了大半,綠線兩旁仿若地震災場敗瓦露出鋼筋,拼命拉扯將墜的三合土更多頹牆,繡遍蕾絲花邊似得彈痕燈色昏黃,裏面仍住著無殻蝸牛停戰七年了,吊臂與纜車在高空游動鑽地聲吵耳,塵土飛揚,都是好景象文字的祖先,擅長航海,紫染腓尼基人的後裔,所以自傲繼續烘甜餅吧,讓孩子安心上學吧重建家園吧,清早上山滑雪午後到沙灘游泳,逛鐘乳岩洞吧這麼美麗的國家,沒有戰爭多麼好 一九九八。十二 LEBANON What a beautiful country—if only there was no warThe long and narrow leaf-shaped domain crisscrossed with…
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Poetry / March 2015 (Issue 27) Children Among the Ruins 廢墟中的兒童by Xi Xi, translated from the Chinese by Jennifer Feeley 廢墟中的兒童 喂,你叫什麼名字?這位梳馬尾約九歲的瘦削女孩,站在石砌路旁廢墟地基上,用流俐英語發問另外幾個六,七歲男童不說話只是微笑,一個站在家門口,一個站在礫石間,一個站在半條斷柱頂高高在上,灰黑的玄武岩背景中他們的紫藍綠紅毛衣,風衣運動褲鮮明奪目,其他成年人,男子裏頭巾,女子埋在長夜般的黑袍中 簡陋的平房全用方石堆砌,露出拼貼補綴的殘破木門窗,數十隻綿羊在空地上覓食,找到甚麼?根本看不見有草,一條水管不知從多遠來,還要到多遠去兩隻羊圍在鋅鐵面盆旁低頭喝水這裏曾是羅馬人建的城市,規模雖小些,藍圖與龐貝相似,那邊是浴場這邊是商店和住宅,唯一的不同劇場雖也露天,卻建在堡壘中千百年來,不受牛羊踐踏,成為現存最完整的一座,回音極好:羅馬人哪眾公民哪,我來,不是為了埋葬凱撒而是讚美他;導遊說,為了發展 旅遊,政府將收回土地,把居民遷徙徙置這件事,我在香港目擊數十年了徙置到哪裏,真有妥善安排?近不近學校,能不能再養羊?敍利亞通脹高達百分之十二,面對人口膨脹,軍費龐大兩個難題在生靈和古蹟之間,真是兩難樹木砍伐殆盡,如果中國十二億人民沒有磚石蓋房子,我們是否寧願不要長城? 一九九八 CHILDREN AMONG THE RUINS Hey, what’s your name? A ponytailedGirl about nine years old, all skin and bones,…
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Fiction / April 2018 (Issue 39) The Body’s Language (from Mourning a Breast)by Xi Xi, translated from the Chinese by Jennifer Feeley For half a century, my body and I have depended on each other for survival. Throughout this long…
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Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Fang Fang. From 23 January to 8 April this year, the Chinese city of Wuhan was under lockdown for 77 days to contain the spread of COVID-19. For most of the…
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{Written by Ash Dean, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Lan Lan (author), Fiona Sze-Lorrain (translator), Canyon in the Body, Zephyr Press, 2014. 208 pgs. Carrying, unzipping, stuffing, rezipping, Stowing— I am…
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{Written by Fathima M, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} David Chaffetz, Three Asian Divas: Women, Art and Culture in Shiraz, Delhi and Yangzhou, Abbreviated Press, 2019. 88 pgs. Culture and cultural…
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{Written by Sucharita Dutta-Asane, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} H.S. Shivaprakash (author) and Kamalakar Bhat (editor), The Word in the World: Essays and Lectures on Indian Literature and Aesthetics, Manipal…
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{Written by Susan Blumberg-Kason, this review is part of Issue 46 of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Antony Dapiran, City on Fire: the Fight for Hong Kong, Scribe, 2020. 336 pgs. In June 1987, my father and I…


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