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Poems on the MRT

说灵感 / On Inspiration by Zhou Can

 

说灵感
周粲

说佻皮
沒有比它更佻皮的了
说出没 除了熊
没有比它更神出鬼没的了

所以我不会带一支鱼竿
老远跑到水边去钓它
也不会安排一张捕鸟的网
用五谷杂粮引诱它上当

我当然也不会仿效李贺
把收集的灵感困在纸条里
以为一张纸条就能化一句诗
或者想像惊悚片里的鸟群
不来时叫人屏息以待
来时多不及数 锐不可挡

灵感只是个风雪夜归人
来了 就在我的柴门上
用拐杖轻敲一下
等着我翻身
等着我下地
等着我一步一步
走去开门

——说灵感 (2025)

On Inspiration
Written by Zhou Can
Translated by Shelly Bryant

call it mischievous
nothing could be more mischievous
call it elusive apart from the bear
nothing is more ghostly
in its comings and goings

so I will not carry a fishing rod
run all the way to the water’s edge to catch it
nor will I set up a bird catching net
using grains and millet to lure it into a trap

I will not imitate Li He
locking gathered inspirations
onto slips of paper
thinking a single slip
could turn into a line of verse
nor will I imagine
the flocks in a horror film
in their absence we hold our breath
in suspense
when they arrive they are countless
unstoppable

inspiration is only a traveller
returning on a snowy night
when it comes it knocks once
on my wooden door
with its walking stick
waiting for me to turn over
waiting for me to set my feet on the ground
waiting for me step by step
to go and open the door

— Published in On Inspiration (2025)

Chew Kok Chang (周国灿) is an iconic Chinese author in Singapore and a recipient of the prestigious Singapore Cultural Medallion. Born in 1934 in Guangdong, China, he has had a remarkable writing career spanning over 70 years. A versatile writer, his extensive body of work includes poems, prose, short stories and critical essays.

周粲,原名周国灿,曾获文学学士、硕士学位。是1990年新加坡文化奖得主。已出版文学性书籍包括诗歌、散文、小说等数十种。至今犹创作不断,作品屡见于本、外地报纸、杂志上。

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Poems on the MRT is an initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with SMRT and Stellar Ace. Produced by Sing Lit Station, a local literary non-profit organisation, this collaboration displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT’s train network, integrating local literature into the daily experience of commuters. Look out for poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil in trains on the East-West, North-South and Circle Lines, as well as videos created by local artists and featuring local poets in stations and on trains. The Chinese, Malay, and Tamil poems are available in both the original languages and English. To enjoy the full poems, commuters may read them on go.gov.sg/potm.

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