The Passenger -过客 …by Yao Peck Lu

Let’s start 2022 with a poem! An introspection by a passenger on the train of life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Corrigendum:

After deep discussions with key opinion leaders, we conclude that fish cannot close their eyes when they expire simply because they do not have eyelids. Moreover, humans and animals also do not close their eyes when the die, most of the time.

Nevertheless, we request the poetic license to retain the statement expressed in this poem as a figurative expression most commonly used to refer to the passing of beings into a better (maybe?) existence than the one bestowed on Earth.

Yao Lu’s little desk – Picture by Yao Lu, Hangzhou June 11, 2021

过客

在封闭水域里生活的鱼，需要新鲜空气。

不然它可能随时会死去，

在水中阖上眼睛，看上去只是睡着了；

这恰恰是我们生活的常态。

我那朋友是很多女人的好朋友。

根据爱或者喜欢的程度，

他会送出价格不同的礼物。

她们不知道也就罢了，

个个心花怒放。

他离不开女人，

就像美食离不开调味品。

尽管他总能在女人流泪的时候递上纸巾，

说上几句风趣幽默的话，令她们破涕为笑。

我猜测他也为某个女人失魂落魄过。

当他还是个小伙子，

心里面还没有一丝裂痕。

事实上我对他了解不多，

在露天咖啡馆交流过几次，

只知道

他喜欢看水母呼吸起伏的姿态

还有北海道飘零的雪花；

厌恶啮齿动物的他

把年迈的爱犬当成一位老人照顾。

有时候我们在他眼里看见闪烁的光，

此类真实的情绪很少流露，

或许他渴望被懂得，又不喜欢解释太多。

走出咖啡馆，我再没见过他。

像这样的故事还有很多，

绿皮火车鸣笛

驶离视线之内，

我是走下某趟列车的旅客，看了一站的风景。

The Passenger

A fish living in confined waters needs fresh oxygen.

Otherwise, it may die at any time,

Closes its eyes in the water and it just falls asleep.

That’s the way life goes.

My acquaintance is a good friend of many women.

According to the degree of love or liking,

He will give them gifts of different price.

It’s fine if these women don’t know,

All of them are very happy.

He can’t live without a woman,

It’s like the link between food and condiments.

Although he can always hand over tissues when a woman is crying,

A few humorous words made them laugh.

I guess he had cried for a woman.

When he was a young man,

But no crack is left in his heart.

In reality, I don’t know much about him,

I talked to him several times in an outdoor café.

All I know is that

He likes to watch the jellyfish breathe in the water

And the falling snow in Hokkaido.

He who hates rodents

Takes care of his old pet dog as if was an old man.

Sometimes we saw twinkling lights in his eyes,

Such true emotions are rarely revealed,

Maybe he longs to be understood but doesn’t like to explain too much.

After I left the cafe, I never met him again.

There are many more stories like this.

A green and slow train whistle.

Out of my sight,

I was just a passenger who got off a train,

And enjoyed the scenery at a station.