既然唐夫談到英詩,特轉來好友Afaa的詩作與網友們一同欣賞,
而在他眾多作品中,我特別鍾情<My Lover's Charm> ....
<My Lover’s Charm>
Afaa Weaver
In the guarded arms of my own sentries,
her spell, her tongue against sweet taste
of bird song, fingers a lullaby against my wooden doors,
light beating accomodations of soul rings, music
of our escape.
We chase the air,
a pair of totems for desire,
her head twirling braids in tiny feathers,
soft squeals of her toes mashing
wet grass. I sing our mothers’ one song,
river reverie—
now, here, now
low in the moon’s cry
now, there, now
I sing, I touch you.
In the window, another choir,
the other in her dark rage,
stones smashed into the stars,
blood from the wailing
of lungfish too long dry,
jealousy in purple rage.
My hand knows you,
clap and clatter, bird rush
from the thicket of tears,
sweat song—my hand knows.
I taste you.
<我的愛人的魔力>
在我親自站崗守護的臂彎裡，
她的魔咒，她緊偎著鳥鳴的甜味
的舌頭，用指頭在我的木造門板上敲出一首搖籃曲，
光拍擊靈魂之座艙，盤旋而上，我們的
逃亡音樂。
我們追逐大氣，
一對象徵慾望的圖騰，
她的頭在細微的羽毛裡纏捲髮辮，
她的腳趾踩碎潮濕青草發出
輕柔哀鳴。我唱出我們母親的那首歌，
河之幻想曲——
乖乖，靜下來吧
在月亮的叫喊中輕聲細語
乖乖，靜下來吧
我歌唱，我撫摸你。
在窗內，另一個唱詩班，
她黑色的憤怒裡還有一個，
石頭粉碎成星星，
自乾涸過久的肺魚的
悲泣中流出的血液，
蘊藏在紫色怒氣中的嫉妒。
我的手認識你，
鼓掌又噼啪作響，從眼淚的
灌木叢蜂湧而出的鳥群，
汗水之歌——我的手知道。
我品嚐你。
--陳黎．張芬齡譯
<Radio Days>
For Mark J. Weaver
My father has a picture of me
taken around the time Charlie Parker
died. I am sitting up like a prince,
erect, bright, smiling. I have promise
around my head woven in vines
of gold, but this is not in the picture.
I remember radio from then,
checking the paper for my shows.
My father had a habit of bringing
home toys to me, small things on days
he got paid. It was a reward
for being firstborn and being a son.
I was supposed to make the future
a safe place. I had to kill the lion.
I look at my son and my brother.
I look at my father. The four of us
are a circuit where the current is
a stream of hope & fear, floating,
going back, living and not living.
We hold up our hands and dreams
fly out of them, birds of blue electric.
收音機年代
——給蔚馬可
我父親有一張我的照片
大約在查理．帕克死時
所照。我端坐如一名王子，
直立，燦爛，微笑。我的頭上
籠罩著以黃金藤編織成的
希望，但這並沒有在照片中顯現。
我記得從那時起的收音機，
翻報紙搜尋我愛聽的節目。.
我父親習慣在他領薪日
帶些玩具回家給我，一些
小東西。那是給
家中長子的獎賞。.
他們期望我讓未來成為
安全之地。我必須屠獅。
我注視著我兒子，我弟弟。
我注視著我父親。我們四個
是一道電路，其中的電流是
希望與恐懼之流，流動，
倒退，存在又不存在。
我們舉起我們的手，夢想
從中飛出——帶電的青鳥。.
--陳黎．張芬齡譯
<Ego>
God’s voice
is caught in
the crackling commotion
of thought,
like dried leaves—
breaking.
自我
上帝的聲音
在噼啪作響的思想的
騷動中
被清楚聽到
像枯葉般——
碎裂。
--陳黎．張芬齡譯
作者簡介:
Afaa Weaver was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. He studied in University of Maryland (1968-70) and Morgan State University (1975), but left with no degree. In 1983, he entered Excelsior College and in 1986, he was awarded a B.A. in Literature in English. In 1985, he attended Brown University, majoring in creative writing, and got his M.A. in 1987. He worked as an assistant professor and lecturer and taught writing, poetry, black literature, and playwriting in many universities; he is now Professor of English in Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts. Besides poetry, he is also a playwright. He has published many collections of poetry: Gathering Voices (1985), Water Song (1985), Some days it’s a slow walk to evening (1989), My Father’s Geography (1992), Stations in a Dream, (1993), Timber and Prayer (1995), The Ten Lights of God (2000), Sandy Point (2000), These Hands I Know (2000), and Multitudes / poems selected and new (2000). He has received several awards, grants and fellowships, including Pennsylvania Arts Council fellowship, Outstanding Young Man of America and PDI Playwrights Award.
Weaver thinks, after decades of experimentation and change, the future for poetry will be the union of cyber space and the old traditional reality of poetry. To popularize poetry, Weaver has advocated poetry readings. Besides U.S.A., he has been invited to read poetry in London, Paris, and many other cities. However, he is concerned that we have a quantitative increase rather than a qualitative one. That is sort of parallel with America’s cult of the celebrity, which he thinks is very dangerous.
蔚雅風（Afaa Weaver），1951年生於美國馬里蘭州的巴爾地摩。他曾在馬里蘭大學（1968-70）和摩根州立大學（1975）就讀，但均未獲學位；1983-86年間，他在Excelsior 學院就讀，取得英國文學學士學位；1985-87年間，他在布朗大學研究所進修，主修創作，獲頒碩士學位。他曾在美國多所大學擔任助理教授或講師，開授創作、詩歌、黑人文學、編劇等課程；目前他任教於麻塞諸塞州波士頓的西門斯學院。除了寫詩，他也創作劇本。他出版的作品集有：《採集聲音》（Gathering Voices, 1985），《水歌》（Water Song, 1985），《某些日子緩步走向黃昏》（Some days it’s a slow walk to evening, 1989），《我父親的地理學》（My Father’s Geography, 1992），《夢中車站》（Stations in a Dream, 1993），《木料與祈禱》（Timber and Prayer, 1995），《上帝的十盞燈》（The Ten Lights of God, 2000），《砂石滿佈的海岬》（Sandy Point, 2000），《我認識的這些手》（These Hands I Know, 2000），和詩合集《大多數》（Multitudes, 2000）等。他曾獲得許多獎項，包括「賓州藝術委員會研究獎金」，「美國傑出青年獎」以及「PDI劇作家獎」等。
蔚雅風認為在經過幾十年的實驗和蛻變之後，未來的詩歌將會是網路世界與傳統詩歌形貌的綜合體。為了讓詩歌普及，他極力倡導詩歌朗讀，除了在美國，他也受邀到倫敦和巴黎等地朗讀詩作。不過，他認為將詩過分商業化、通俗化，是一件危險的事——讀詩人口質的提升要比量的增加來得重要。
Afaa相關網站:
www.afaamweaver.com
www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/170
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