酷我-北美枫

[Lake]

(大雪纷飞的日子，能干什么呢？写雪吧，写在雪日发生的事吧。
请给点耐心，看看这个超长是否可读。谢谢。)

The Man Who Stretches

It was a sleet day.
Slushy, slippery.
We slid into a sports store,
hoping the skates can be
stretched to a half size larger.

We waited patiently for Don,
the only one in Strauss
who knew the trade.

Fifteen minutes passed.

To save six hundred bucks,
in patience we waited.

Then an old man
loomed beside me, his chin
drooped nearly to his chest,
back hunched.

Are you looking for me?
What can I do for you?
He asked.

Are you Don? Don’t you
have an apprentice?
I answered.

Trudging back with a ruler,
he measured the boots with
his eyes so close to the readings
that his nose almost touched the insoles.

My daughter quietly sat
on the bench as instructed
to try on the stretched skates.

Bandy-legged, Don, one hand
on the floor, knelt down
with his right leg first,
then the left. The shoelace
seemed so delicate in his knuckle
protruding hands. He fastened it
with all his effort nonetheless.

Looking up, he asked,
How do you feel now?

Better. Replied my daughter.

Do you still feel the tightness
around your toes? The bumps
on your heels?

I was about to say,
that’s good enough.

But Don insisted:
Tell me, how would you grade it—
Better, worse, good, pretty good?

I watched him rise to his feet
with more difficulty than the way
he knelt down.
I didn’t come up to help him,
as I wished in my mind.
Instead, I turned my head away.
Slightly.

Can you imagine a man
of four score and seven years
helping a girl fit in a pair of skates
on a heavy snow day?

Here is something for you, Don.
I put some change in his hand.
Gratefully.

Thank you!
He winked at my daughter,
a glint in his eyes,
a stretch
of one’s
lifespan.



03/01/07

[[Lake]]

(大雪纷飞的日子，能干什么呢？写雪吧，写在雪日发生的事吧。
请给点耐心，看看这个超长是否可读。谢谢。)

The Man Who Stretches

It was a sleet day.
Slushy, slippery.
We slid into a sports store,
hoping the skates can be
stretched to a half size larger.

We waited patiently for Don,
the only one in Strauss
who knew the trade.

Fifteen minutes passed.

To save six hundred bucks,
in patience we waited.

Then an old man
loomed beside me, his chin
drooped nearly to his chest,
back hunched.

Are you looking for me?
What can I do for you?
He asked.

Are you Don? Don’t you
have an apprentice?
I answered.

Trudging back with a ruler,
he measured the boots with
his eyes so close to the readings
that his nose almost touched the insoles.

My daughter quietly sat
on the bench as instructed
to try on the stretched skates.

Bandy-legged, Don, one hand
on the floor, knelt down
with his right leg first,
then the left. The shoelace
seemed so delicate in his knuckle
protruding hands. He fastened it
with all his effort nonetheless.

Looking up, he asked,
How do you feel now?

Better. Replied my daughter.

Do you still feel the tightness
around your toes? The bumps
on your heels?

I was about to say,
that’s good enough.

But Don insisted:
Tell me, how would you grade it—
Better, worse, good, pretty good?

I watched him rise to his feet
with more difficulty than the way
he knelt down.
I didn’t come up to help him,
as I wished in my mind.
Instead, I turned my head away.
Slightly.

Can you imagine a man
of four score and seven years
helping a girl fit in a pair of skates
on a heavy snow day?

Here is something for you, Don.
I put some change in his hand.
Gratefully.

Thank you!
He winked at my daughter,
a glint in his eyes,
a stretch
of one’s
lifespan.



03/01/07

[博弈]

[[Mark]]

[星子]

作为诗,还是应该精简,,,和跳跃
_________________

[[ANNA]]

作为诗,还是应该精简,,,和跳跃
_________________

[Lake]

[[Lake]]

[Lake]

[[Lake]]

[星子]

Lake,

I believe your english is better than mine.

When I began to write poems in English, I got a lot of critiques.

Some people even thought I could not write English poems after I learn better English.

I never gave up and showed to them two years later and got their respect and admiration.

Some local poets even ask me to teach them how to write poems in simplicity yet meaningful.

I know what they are really attracted by my poems is the unique voice and creativity.

So What I could suggest is to try and never bother what others say or think.

I wrote a lot of poems (love poems), I never fear what others think or guess, what I write I really want to touch someone, if not others, then myself.

Poetry is a world, you can live inside... for me, it is a very beautiful world with wonderful imaginations. (no matter if there is others or not...)
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Lake,

I believe your english is better than mine.

When I began to write poems in English, I got a lot of critiques.

Some people even thought I could not write English poems after I learn better English.

I never gave up and showed to them two years later and got their respect and admiration.

Some local poets even ask me to teach them how to write poems in simplicity yet meaningful.

I know what they are really attracted by my poems is the unique voice and creativity.

So What I could suggest is to try and never bother what others say or think.

I wrote a lot of poems (love poems), I never fear what others think or guess, what I write I really want to touch someone, if not others, then myself.

Poetry is a world, you can live inside... for me, it is a very beautiful world with wonderful imaginations. (no matter if there is others or not...)
_________________

[Lake]

谢谢星子鼓励的话。
很佩服你能在如此短的时间有如此成就，更佩服你坚韧不拔的精神。
我是一个 layback person. 欠缺这种精神。

以前也经常收到这样的comments:
fresh, new, original, elegant, soothing, good imagery, metaphor
a taste of oriental, etc...
Now I start getting tired of all these junks, I know myself.

A long way to go.

[[Lake]]

谢谢星子鼓励的话。
很佩服你能在如此短的时间有如此成就，更佩服你坚韧不拔的精神。
我是一个 layback person. 欠缺这种精神。

以前也经常收到这样的comments:
fresh, new, original, elegant, soothing, good imagery, metaphor
a taste of oriental, etc...
Now I start getting tired of all these junks, I know myself.

A long way to go.

[星子]

A long way to go.

for me too.

what I hope is when I retire, I still keep the passion for poetry.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

A long way to go.

for me too.

what I hope is when I retire, I still keep the passion for poetry.
_________________

[Lake]

This is what love is all about

sitting in the ice arena
for twwwwwo hours
wrapped
in wool blanket
listening to girls-gone-wild
to watch
your daughter
compete
for just two minutes
with no idea
if one day
by any chance
you will see her
sit in the "kiss n' cry" area

[[Lake]]

This is what love is all about

sitting in the ice arena
for twwwwwo hours
wrapped
in wool blanket
listening to girls-gone-wild
to watch
your daughter
compete
for just two minutes
with no idea
if one day
by any chance
you will see her
sit in the "kiss n' cry" area

[不清]

i should learn from 星子.........


_________________
「四十二排浪，沒有一排是相似的」——不清

博客：
http://42waves.tumblr.com

[[不清]]

i should learn from 星子.........


_________________
「四十二排浪，沒有一排是相似的」——不清

博客：
http://42waves.tumblr.com

[Lake]

bu qing gen cuo tie le?

[[Lake]]

bu qing gen cuo tie le?

[不清]

[[不清]]

[Lake]

Never mind. I thought you posted to the wrong place.

[[Lake]]

Never mind. I thought you posted to the wrong place.

[不清]

haha, read the poem again. i don't think it's long. In far, with the length of the poem, it should carry a bit more substance to it. The ending was nice, but predictable i feel.
_________________
「四十二排浪，沒有一排是相似的」——不清

博客：
http://42waves.tumblr.com

[[不清]]

haha, read the poem again. i don't think it's long. In far, with the length of the poem, it should carry a bit more substance to it. The ending was nice, but predictable i feel.
_________________
「四十二排浪，沒有一排是相似的」——不清

博客：
http://42waves.tumblr.com

[Lake]

[[Lake]]