(text by artist)
“Clouds” by Wislawa Szymborska
I’d have to be really quick
to describe clouds –
A split second’s enough
For them to start being something else.
Their trademark:
they don’t repeat a single
shape, shade, pose, arrangement.
在波蘭詩人辛波絲卡的一首名為《雲》的詩，開首寫因為雲變化很快，瞬間即由這個甚麼成為那個甚麼。雲的出衆，在於永不重覆同一種形狀丶陰影丶姿勢及排列。
(我也希望我的創作像這詩裏對雲的形容，一直在變化。)
Unburdened by memory of any kind,
they float easily over the facts.
What on earth could they bear witness to?
They scatter whenever something happens.
《雲》的詩，繼續寫到雲的行動不為任何記憶的包伏所負累，他們能輕易地浮翔於
事實之上。問，雲如何能承受多少他們見証的？ 或問，雲在見証多少地上的事情？
(當我在翻譯這兩段英文翻譯原文時，發現了我必須持有開放的態度，不能害怕錯誤。畢竟，最初的原文是波蘭文。創作，就是不斷 “翻譯”的過程。過程中，總有自己不懂得或不確定的語言。)
(沒錯，“what on earth?”，可能是創作丶觀賞和評論時的普遍處境。不過，無論我們是要上天或下海，都不用急於回答這問題，因為詩人巳給了我們最完美暗示，“scatter whenever something happens” 。聚散，總有時。雲隨時變，我們也隨時在變。)
(translated)
“Clouds” by Wislawa Szymborska
I’d have to be really quick
to describe clouds –
A split second’s enough
For them to start being something else.
Their trademark:
they don’t repeat a single
shape, shade, pose, arrangement.
Written by Polish poet Szymborska, Clouds illustrates how clouds shift in their forms almost instantaneously. Clouds are extraordinary because they never repeat themselves in shape, shade, gesture, and arrangement.
(I also hope that my creation will compare with this poetic portrayal of clouds, to be ever-changing.)
Unburdened by memory of any kind,
they float easily over the facts.
What on earth could they bear witness to?
Clouds carries on with the agility of clouds, they are not bounded by the burdens of memory and they float swiftly over facts. It is queried, that how do clouds bear what they have witnessed? Or, how many happenings on earth are they bearing witness to?
(As I was translating the English translation of the original text, I realised there is a necessity for me to keep an open mind as I cannot fear the possibility of making mistakes. All in all, the poem was written in Polish. To create means an enduring process of translation. One will always encounter language that is foreign or perplexing.)
(It is correct, that “what on earth?” could be a common scenario in the process of creation, appreciation, and review. Yet we need not hurry no matter if we are venturing into the sky or the ocean, as the poet has already hinted with the line “scattered whenever something happens”. There is a time for parting, and a time for meeting. Clouds change whenever, and so do we.)
