A Perfect Symbiosis
My Snake
This week on the curriculum
we’re bringing in our pets from home –
I had to get a lift from Mum
with heat lamp and vivarium
when Friday came: that was my turn –
and these are all things I’ve learned.
My snake quite likes the school-keeper
and scooted up his ladder.
My snake’s not good at geography;
at history he’s badder.
My snake can’t spell or smell or tell –
he’s just a little adder.
by Allen Ashley
Chinese translation:
我的蛇
本週的課程
要我們從家裡帶來寵物 ──
當星期五到來
我得讓媽媽載我
帶著加熱燈和飼養箱：輪到我了──
這些都是我學到的。
我的蛇很喜歡學校看守人
並爬上他的梯子。
我的蛇不精於地理；
歷史他更糟糕。
我的蛇不會拼字、嗅東西或說話──
他只是一條小adder *。
*Adder 既是加法器也是小蝰蛇。
Allen Ashley is based in north London, UK, and works as a creative writing tutor and developmental editor. He has had work published online recently in Sein und Werden, The Broken City and The World of Myth. His most recent book is the SF chapbook Journey to the Centre of the Onion (Eibonvale Press, UK, 2023).
Two poems by Sandy Phillips--
Snakes
Snakes hiss s s,
Scales slide,
Softly silently,
Snakes can hide,
Into the mire,
Across the sand,
Under the leaves,
In sea or land.
Bodies arch,
Tongues out
Tasting air
Round about,
Fangs pierce,
A lethal bite,
Coils turn,
Squeeze tight,
Jaws open,
Very wide,
O look out,
You're inside.
Chinese translations:
蛇
蛇嘶嘶作聲，
鱗片滑動，
輕柔無聲，
蛇可以隱藏，
進入泥潭，
越過沙地，
在樹葉下，
在海洋或陸地。
身體弓起，
舌頭伸出
繞一圈
品嚐空氣，
獠牙刺入，
致命一咬，
蛇餅轉動，
緊緊擠壓，
下顎張開，
非常寬大，
噢，當心，
你在裡面了。
Fly
I, said the fly,
Zip around in the sky,
On rainbow wings,
I can move about things.
In and out, up and down,
In the kitchen, in the sink,
In the bedroom quick as wink.
I'm pretty fast, pretty fit,
Very rarely do I sit,
Try and catch me if you can,
With floppy mop or spray-it can.
No one likes me, wonder why?
I think I'm a dandy guy,
In furry coat, jacket green,
The cutest insect ever seen.
蒼蠅
我，蒼蠅說，
在天空中飛馳，
乘著彩虹翅膀，
我可以流轉於各式事物間。
進進出出，上上下下，
在廚房裡，在水槽裡，
眨眼間就進了睡房。
我很快，也很壯，
我很少坐下，
你儘管試試抓住我，
用鬆獅拖把或噴霧器。
無人喜歡我，想知道為什麼？
我覺得自己是潮男，
穿著毛茸茸的外套，綠色夾克，
是前所未有最可愛的昆蟲。
Sandy has always enjoyed the arts in general. She started writing when she was six with an apology to Robbie Burns. Sandy has many poems accepted for anthologies, and has written a book which is available on Amazon, The Narrow Doorway.
She writes articles for psychic magazines, Psychic News and More To Life. Some years ago Sandy enjoyed reading her poems to a background of jazz.
She belongs to the Enfield Poets and attends a writing group run by Allen Ashley.
Sandy also paints in any media and had a sculpture accepted by The Royal Academy. She also belongs to the Enfield Art Circle.
My Name is Belle
I’m called ‘Belle’ a Yorkshire Terrier.
My darling owner, I call ‘mother’.
She mothers me to keep me healthier
And I know I want no other.
She feeds and pets me; I was rescued.
We’ve bonded, woman and a bitch,
I’m sensitive to all her moods,
Relationship of love so rich.
She tests my loyalty like this:
Pretends to weep upon the chair,
Hands on face, she hides remiss,
And whining, I approach with care.
And then she thrusts both hands away,
Face creased with laughter, flashing teeth;
My night has turned to brightest day –
I whoop and leap and bark beneath.
This thing we have, you may not notice,
It’s a perfect symbiosis.
by Rab
Chinese translation:
我的名字是貝兒
我叫貝兒，一隻約克夏犬。
我親愛的主人，我叫她「媽媽」。
她溺愛我，讓我更健康，
我知道我別無他求。
她餵養和撫摸我；我被拯救。
我們已經結下了不解之緣，女人和婊子，
我對她的所有情緒都很敏感，
愛的關係如此深厚。
她這樣考驗我的忠誠：
假裝在椅子上哭泣，
雙手掩面，她隱藏馬虎，
我一邊抱怨著，一邊小心翼翼地走近。
然後她將雙手推開，
笑起來滿臉皺紋，牙齒閃閃發光；
我的黑夜已變成最明亮的白天──
我在下面呼喊、跳躍、吠叫。
我們有的這個東西，你可能沒有留意到，
是一種完美的共生。
"Rabindra (after Tagore, Nobel Laureate), Anselm Mariathasan.
I am 67 years old, writing for 34 years, soon after I first met my wife, Jeevi.
I have had fourteen poems and one short story published by the small press as Anselm.
I am a member of the Society of Authors and have been attending a local Writers’ Workshop in Enfield Central Library, led by established author, Allen Ashley.
Having graduated in Biochemistry from UCL (1979), I made the switch to Creative Writing after a foundation year at Middlesex University."
〈熊貓降世之打救城市旅遊業〉
百鬼橫行嘅月份
某個凌晨發夢大叫：啊
我跌咗兩舊粉嫩叉燒
佢哋話，唔係
恭喜我生咗兩隻得得意意嘅國寶
破紀錄做埋高齡產熊
高產熊貓
本非我願 非我所願
正當我擘大個口
佢哋話
咪住，我哋要拎走佢哋先
呢度以後食粥食飯
靠曬你哋（但我食竹）
我坐咗喺度
得番個窿
諗起嗰陣個肚好似
生咗鼓脹
係空氣泵大咗我個肚
你要負責任啊
無論喺邊
佢哋要捉我去照超聲波
一啲神秘武器
好似耶穌嗰道聖光
隔住肚皮都可以照穿生命
一隻二隻
眼仔光光
好似失眠
話嚟就嚟
好似頭獎
話有就有
咦！
叉燒爸爸呢？
施勁超 (Andy Sze)
Translated from Cantonese:
The Birth of Pandas to Save Urban Tourism
The month of ghosts overrunning
One morning, I shouted in my dream: Oh
I dropped two balls of pink and tender barbecued pork
They say, no
Congrats on giving birth to two cute national treasures
And being a record-breaking bear of advanced maternal age
A highly productive panda
This isn’t my wish Not what I want.
As I opened my mouth wide
they say
Wait, we have to take them away first
Whether we’ll eat congee and rice
depends on you (but I eat bamboo)
I sat there
with just an O
thinking at that time my belly felt like
it was about to burst
It was the air that pumped my belly up
You must take responsibility
no matter where you are
They were to catch me for an ultrasound
Some mysterious weapon
like the Holy Light of Jesus
which can shine through a life beyond your belly skin
One, two
eyes two lights
as if suffering from insomnia
They said to come and they came
as if hitting the jackpot
They said there will be and there are
Why!
Where's the barbecued pork daddy?
"A post-90s Hong Kong poet, secondary school teacher and Master of Arts from CUHK. I have won the Youth Literature Award, the City Literature Award and other new poetry awards. I am also the author of a collection of poems The Posture of Walking (2023). My works can be found in more than 20 Hong Kong and Taiwan publications such as Voice and verse, Fleurs de Lettres and The Epoch Poetry Quarterly."