Poems by Chen Hsiu-chen 陳秀珍（Taiwan）
Translated by Lee Kuei–shien

Winter II冬II

For welcome the snow
the leaves
leave the vacancy of

whole mountain.

The Crow烏鴉

Wearing a black mourning clothes
the crow makes a strange noise
to challenge the tolerance limits of human ears.
Its ominous image projects
a shadow spread in the heart of bird watcher.

The crow resting on the eaves of farmhouse
is attacked by flying pebbles.
The crow escapes into a colorful dream of anyone
who is awaken in shock.

In the bird shop there are
one and another cages of birds with colorful feathers,
and one by one singing with sweet and beautiful sounds.

Crow, ah, crow
you stay on the bridge to watch the world
and roam on the road to inspect the pedestrians,
you can live freely
in the sky without
a bird cage.

Formosan Clouded Leopard 台灣雲豹

You, called the Formosan clouded leopard,
Have lived in legend
Like a leaf
Gone with the wind into the fog among the mountains,
Like a thin cloud
swept into history.

From the mysterious eyes of a cat,
I can imagine your endearing beauty.
From the clouds I can imagine
Your fur, with its many black markings.
From the museum’s specimen, I try to calculate
Your speed as you run through the historical jungle.

Humans invaded your living territory;
Humans caused your prey to decrease;
Humans slaughtered your ethnic groups.
At last even the Jade Mountain has no space
For your reproduction.

Seabirds海鳥

In the chilling sky,
you might become the prey being torn by
the claws of eagles.

In that moment
you would not be a mascot of the others.
You stand independently on the reef
at times wandering around the shallows.

Your slight curved long beak shames the fishing hook,
while our sharp eyes reveal aggressive fighting intentions
As they look through the blue waves
and frighten away falcons.

冬II

為著歡迎雪
樹葉仔
讓（niū）出了

皆座山

烏鴉The Crow

穿著黑色喪服
發出詭異噪音
挑戰人類耳朵容忍的極限
不祥的形象
讓觀者心中蔓延陰影

烏鴉停息農家屋簷
被飛石攻擊
烏鴉逃入七彩夢境
把人嚇醒

鳥店
一籠一籠羽色競艷的鳥
一隻一隻銀嗓金嗓的禽

烏鴉烏鴉
佇立橋上觀賞世人
巡迴橋下校閱行人
你自由自在生存
在沒有鳥籠的天空

台灣雲豹Formosan Clouded Leopard

以台灣雲豹之名
活在傳說中
像一片落葉
飄逝於群山霧中
像一片薄雲
被風捲進歷史

從一隻貓咪謎樣眼睛
想像你美貌與機靈
從雲朵想像你
毛皮上黑斑點點
從博物館標本揣摩你
飛奔在昔時茂林

人類侵占你生息的領地
人類害你獵物短少
人類殘殺你族群的性命
最後連玉山大武山都没有你
繁殖之地

海鳥Seabirds

在肅殺的天空
你恐怕是鷹爪搶奪的
獵物

現在
你不做他者的吉祥物
你獨立礁石
你踱步淺灘
微鉤長喙，使魚鉤羞愧
凌厲眼神，穿透碧波浪
騰騰殺氣
把鷹隼都嚇退