Fan Jinghua: Versions of Distance

　　　 Versions of Distance
　　　　　　　For homebound Elaine
You’ve known between the south and the north
Different versions of distance, enough to see
How reason can be a spring working against or for
Commitment, passion and their future.
In the plastic bamboo grove, we always sit around a table, talking,
Once about whether oily words could drive at a meaning
Constant like the cholera-free ship mooring offshore.
Or, when enthralled by a show, do we need
To judge each role by the performer’s art or nature?
We sit still, the scenes flowing away before our eyes,
And as we sit still, the scenes flow within us;
This is the same as you, coming and leaving, breezy,
While people are continually revised by distance,
So that our lasting ache is shown as mortal happiness.
Yet, as we talk about tables in our childhood homes,
We each have a separate past to share, and we may believe
We must have known each other when, across time and space,
The first steps of our bare feet started to measure the world.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　July 13-14, 2010


　　　　叠映
　 　　　（送许琨女士归国）
你走过南与北的多重版本，懂得理性
会以弹性对付情感、义务以及它们的可能。
在实心竹围出的竹林里，我们围着盘子说话；
油滑的言词能否指向不变的意思，如霍乱时的
那艘游船，终于没有了昏乱，在海岸线外停泊？
或如着迷于一场表演，是否要评判
那些角色是本色的呈现还是性格的创造？
我们坐着，那一幕幕径自从眼前流去，
而我们坐着，那一幕幕也就流经我们；
正如你来了又去，留下再来的期许如玉。
所有人都一再被距离划分成“我”的多个版本，
各自的短暂幸福都是一个长久的渴望。
当我们说起家乡的餐桌，我们才发现
你我的曾经那么相似；这或可令我们相信
人人都似曾相识：曾经，我们隔着时空
赤脚学步，从那儿开始衡量世界，至今。
　　　　　　　　2010年7月15日