Shu Ting (舒婷)'s "A Way of Playing" (一種演奏風格)

一種演奏風格 小號是曠野上孤房子的燈 薩克斯是輕盈柔軟的雪花 落下 一層又一層 小號在薄雲中若明若暗 薩克斯的池塘里 蛙聲一馳一張 螢火蟲把草芒微微壓彎 小號是一棵入秋的烏柏 薩克斯被飛旋的風撕碎、環繞 舉臂祈天的樹幹最后舞蹈 地上猩红斑斑 小號猝然拔起 薩克斯以雾趾，以林籟，以魅力的鹿群 拾階而上 拾階而上 小號号一躍而出 薩克斯展開洋面 一波一波 都是金屬般的陽光 小號旌旗在望 薩克斯千軍萬馬 小號奮不顧身 薩克斯 啊薩克斯突然回轉低啞 小號任自己跌下深淵 碎成沛雨和珍珠的回声 薩克斯立在石喉上長嗥 纤着一輪沉沉墮去的夕陽 舒婷  09.05.1990

A Way of Playing The horn is light of the lone hovel in the field The sax a light soft snowflake Falling One layer upon another   The horn flickering in the wispy cloud In the pool of the sax The sound of frog croaking lighter or tighter The fire fly bending the tip of the grass The horn a tallow tree in autumn The sax torn by swirling wind, surrounded Its arms up in prayer to the gods, its trunk dancing at last Bright red spots on the ground The horn rising suddenly The sax with the toes of mist, the whisperings of the wood, the charm of a herd of deer Scaling up a step at a time, Scaling up a step at a time The horn leaping up The sax unfolding the surface of its sea One wave upon another Of metallic sunshine The horn’s flags now gazing upon   The thundering hoofs of the sax The horn giving its all The sax Oh the sax suddenly turning low The horn letting itself fall into the deep Splintering into echoes of ample rain and pearls The sax howling on its throat of stone, standing, Circling the sinking sunset tr. El Zorro

Shu Ting( 舒婷 ) (b 1952) is one of the contemporary poetesses I like. Recently I bought one of her poetry collections called  "一種演奏風格". I sought the title poem. I read it. I like it. So I thought I'd translate it that others too may share in my joy. According to internet sources, she was born  龔佩瑜 in 福建龍海市石碼鎮, was sent to work in the villages in 1969, returned as a common laborer in 1972 , started writing poetry in 1979 and was recruited the following year to work as a professional writer by the Fujian province authorities.  Her works include the following :《雙桅船》、《會唱歌的鳶尾花》、《始祖鳥》，散文集《心煙》等。She's been considered part of the movement known as "fuzzy poetry" (朦朧詩」) along with such other poets as 北島, 顧城、梁小斌 etc.

I like the way she uses imagery: simple, direct, unique, idiosyncratic and often surprising.