by Bill Collins

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

很久以前曾經把這首詩抄寫了下來，但是好像在砍掉重鍊的時候弄不見了，是為重貼。

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幾年前在爆炸的時候，第一次讀到滑雪的北極熊，我發笑了。

〈分類之物〉

夜晚簡單地分為有做過和沒做過兩類
早晨分成拉出了甚麼呀和甚麼都拉不出來兩類

笑聲分為猥瑣的和不猥瑣的兩類
憂鬱分為有癒合過和沒有癒合過兩類

美麗分為有效和沒效兩類
醜陋分為是可忍和孰不可忍兩類

北極熊分為很會滑雪和不會滑雪兩類
擁抱分為燙傷和凍傷兩類

詩人分為有愛過和沒愛過兩類
愛人分為寫詩和不寫詩兩類

年少分為被阿過和沒有被阿過兩類
人生分為有爆炸過和沒有爆炸過兩類

死分為有罪和沒有罪兩類
有時候又僅僅是爽和不爽兩類

鯨向海，《通緝犯》，頁180-181

Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
‘T is the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur, — you’re straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.

Emily Dickinson

只有唇語可以解除唇語
只有cd可以交換cd
只有奧義可以到達另一個奧義
但是我忽略停止panic的重要性
以及等待使意志堅定
以及愛使黑暗發光
除了建議一起惡作一個劇
我沒有其他更壞的主意
你正摸索前行
我正崎嶇

#ref

厭煩還是得過日子，認命也是得過，為甚麼我就是不認命呢？
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大四，就業博覽會季節。

Writing a résumé
, by Wislawa Szymborska

What needs to be done?
Fill out the application
and enclose the resume.

Regardless of the length of life,
a resume is best kept short.

Concise, well-chosen facts are de rigueur.
Landscapes are replaced by addresses,
shaky memories give way to unshakable dates.

Of all your loves, mention only the marriage;
of all your children, only those who were born.

Who knows you matters more than whom you know.
Trips only if taken abroad.
Memberships in what but without why.
Honors, but not how they were earned.

Write as if you’d never talked to yourself
and always kept yourself at arm’s length.

Pass over in silence your dogs, cats, birds,
dusty keepsakes, friends, and dreams.

Price, not worth,
and title, not what’s inside.
His shoe size, not where he’s off to,
that one you pass off as yourself.
In addition, a photograph with one ear showing.
What matters is its shape, not what it hears.
What is there to hear, anyway?
The clatter of paper shredders.

thanks lukhnos for forwarding this poem