War

Abstract

Work by ChenLi Because he toldher, "I enjoywork the most," she dreamed she became "work." For years she had wanted to be near him, to possess him, but seemed unable tooccupy hismind and body entirely forany lengthof time.Finally herwish came true when she dreamed she became "work," a word on a small scrap of paper he put inhiswallet, inhis left pants pocket. She layback contentedly, feelinghis body, especially his lowerbody, becoming aroused, excited, fatigued, subdued, as hewalked, talked,worked, restedduring theday?even as he flirted with his clients.She had never feltso utterly close tohim. "Ah, how wonderful 'work' is!" Inher dream she smiled and fellasleep. 2006 War byYang Mu i Inyour dim and gray heartwar has been going on For years. Bridges andwindmills have collapsed As far as your eyes can see, there is no human trace In thebosom, only an old goat drinkingwater by the shoal Tired willows persist all spring long just fora fewnew leaves An anthill repeatedly performs the same Plot, about nothingness And being. A solitary eagle glides low before the rainstormcomes 2 Inyour dim and gray heartwar has been going on For years. The caravan ofmilitary supplies passes through And disappears. Only an occasional explosion can be heard Carried on the wind a great distance? From theopposite side ofmemory: jade bracelets jingle And thehush of a fine-toothcomb being drawn through longblack hair And over and over themirror repeats a song from under the eaves The look inhis eyes lives and dies like amayfly 2002 Translations from the Chinese ByMichelle Yeh & Frank Stewart SPECIAL SECTION Chen Li (the pen name of Chen Yingwen), received his BA inEnglish from National Taiwan Normal University and formany years taught at a junior high school forgirls inhis native place, Hualian, on the east coast of Taiwan. He has published ten books of poetry as well as personal essays and music reviews (his blog can be read at hgjh.hlc.edu.tw/~chenli/ index.htm). He isalso a prolific translator ofworld poetry, often collaborating with hiswife, the critic Chang Fen-ling. A native of Hualian, Yang Mu received his BA inEnglish fromTunghai University inTaiwan, an MFA from the University of Iowa, and a PhD incomparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley. For decades he taught at the University ofWashington, Seattle, fromwhich he recently retired. Inaddition, he has held many teaching and administrative positions at universities inHong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. A poet with fourteen verse collections, he isalso a leading essayist, scholar of classical Chinese poetry, and translator of English poetry. For a biographical profile ofMichelle Yeh, see page 24. Frank Stewart isa professor of literature at the University of Hawaii and editor ofManoaiA Pacific Journal of International Writing. He has published four books of his own poetry, the most recent being ByAllMeans, and numerous books and anthologies on Asian and Pacific literature.One of his most recent books on translation isThe Poem Behind the Poem: Translating Asian Poetry intoEnglish (Copper Canyon, 2004). January-February 2010 i27 ...