巷-a 公路

Hey everyone, I am going to start another section that includes some of the poems I've written. All of my poems, so far at least, have been written first in Taiwanese, and translated specifically for posting here.

A word about Taiwanese: I use the Taiwan Romanization system, which is based on the original church romanization but slightly modified. I'll talk more about the Taiwanese language(s) issue some other day.


Hang-a Kong-loo

Jin-sing bo hong-hiong e si-tsun
Tsiok ai kiann hang-a loo
Toh-ping
Tsiann-ping
Tak-kang e hong-king long bo kang
Ban-ban-a kiann
Khuann tioh e mih-kiann pian tso gua e sim-tsing

Tshue tioh hong-hiong liau-au
Toh ai kiann ko-sok kong-loo
Tih-tih-tih
Kan-na khuann tioh thau-tsing
Sai hiah kin
Iah-bue khuann tioh sannh
Toh long kue-khi a


巷-a 公路

人生無方向 e 時陣
Tsiok 愛行巷-a 路
Toh-旁
Tsiann-旁
Tak-kang e 風景攏無 kang
慢慢-a 行
看 tioh e 物件變做我 e 心情

找 tioh 方向了後
Toh ai 行高速公路
直直直
Kan-na 看 tioh 頭前
駛 hiah 緊
Iah-bue 看 tioh sannh
Toh 攏過去 a


巷子公路

人生沒有方向的時候
很喜歡走巷子裡
左邊
右邊
每天風景都不一樣
慢慢走著
看到的東西變成我的心情

找到方向以後
我必須走高速公路
直直的
只看得到前方
開那麼快
什麼都還沒看到
就已經超過了


Alleyways and Freeways

When I didn't have a goal in life
I love to walk down alleyways
Left turn
Right turn
The scene is different every day
Take a stroll
Things I see become part of my soul

After I found a direction
I have to take the freeway
Straight on
All I see is what's ahead
Drive faster
Before I see anything
It becomes part of the past

Intermission 1

I just want to apologize for the slow progress of the Taiwan Journals. It’s now August, and I’m still writing about stuff that happened in March. I hope I can still remember enough to convey my thoughts accurately.

It’s been slightly difficult to sort out what to write first and what to write later; also difficult to guage how serious of a discussion I should have. My goal is to look away at the mainstream political struggles in Taiwan, while wondering about Taiwan’s society and my place in it. How can I make it interesting, yet not pretentious; thought-provoking, yet human?

I’ve been lazy, as always, to really figure out how to balance those questions, and so I’m stuck on the Taiwan Journals. I don’t want to give up writing them though. There are still a lot on my mind, and I want to get them down. So hopefully I can have a bit more to post very soon.