[This Poem No. 2]
Harsh Matt / in translation by C. J. Anderson-Wu
There is a poem
Sitting at the bustling crossroads
Endlessly talking to everyone
Many people
Stop and listen patiently
With an interested expression
They might pat the poem’s shoulder
Or give a thumbs up
Others pass by expressionlessly
One whole day
No one talks to this poem
No one talks to this poem for one whole week
No one talks to this poem for one whole month
No one talks to this poem for one whole year
I worry a little
Will this poem
Get Bored
And break?
[這首詩二號]
許赫
有一首詩
坐在熙來攘往繁忙的路口
滔滔不絕跟大家說話
很多人
停下腳步
很有耐心地聽完
表情興味盎然
會拍拍這首詩的肩
或者比大拇指
其他人
面無表情經過
一整天
沒有人跟這首詩說話
一整個禮拜沒有人跟這首詩說話
一整個月沒有人跟這首詩說話
一整年沒有人跟這首詩說話
我有點擔心這首詩
會不會
悶
壞掉了
Harsh Matt is the pen name of Hsu Heh, a poet from Taiwan and the founder of Zebra Crossing Publishing. In 2012, he launched the writing project “Farewell to Good Poetry,” and in 2016, he introduced a project to write 10,000 poems, but only managed to complete 2,300 poems before failing. Hsu Heh believes that poetry is a suitable way to express indescribable affairs and experiences, emphasizing that the experience and the act of writing poetry itself should not be limited by writing skills. In recent years, he has been dedicated to promoting writing, with the motto that even those without talent can enjoy the pleasure of it. He has published eight poetry collections, including Autumn at the Postal Counter, Turns Out Girls Don’t Want to Marry Middle-aged Men, and Broken Youth. Hsu Heh has also served as a judge for many poetry contests in Taiwan.
C.J. Anderson-Wu (吳介禎) is a Taiwanese writer who has published two fiction collections about Taiwan’s military dictatorship (1949–1987), known as White Terror: Impossible to Swallow (2017) and The Surveillance (2021). She is currently working on her third book Endangered Youth—to Hong Kong. Her works have been shortlisted for a number of international literary awards, including the 2024 Flying Island Poetry Manuscript Competition. She also won the Strands Lit International Flash Fiction Competition, the Invisible City Blurred Genre Literature Competition, and the Wordweavers Literature Contest.