to be the first on bus
with a long queue behind —
After all, chance is little
to get the best seat in life.
Window opened on tall buildings
for ladder car and escape sling
bringing lives back
from the gate of death.
The opened window,
it’s not for jumping out of.
No fence is beside
the tranquil bridge side.
Please don’t use news
to show your presence at site.
Photo would be the best.
The charcoal won’t expire,
so keep them till next Festival
to have nice barbecue.
We will all be waiting for you.
Note:1995 is the phone number of Taiwan Lifeline International, an organization aiming at suicide prevention.
From the author:
I wouldn’t encourage suicide. I wouldn’t be against it either. It’s worse, in my opinion, to have a painful soul in order to fulfill others’ expectations.
But I still hope every individual could discover an inspiration to live. It could be a person, a thing, a song, or even words.
— thankmilk (https://www.instagram.com/thankmilk/)
The original text:
1995
排在月台第一個 是幸運的事
能先佔到座位
人生沒來得及卡位
至少搭車可以
高樓的窗 可以打開
是為了雲梯車和緩降機
為了讓人活下去
不是跳下去
吊橋沒有圍欄 很美
你可以用照片
記得你來過
別用新聞
剩下的碳 不會過期
明年中秋再一起烤肉
大家都在等你
— 取自 thankmilk IG (https://www.instagram.com/thankmilk/)
作者的話：
我不鼓勵自殺，我也沒有反對它。
為了別人的期待而留下一個苦痛的人，對我來說是更糟糕的事。
但我仍希望所有人都能找到自己活下去的原因，可以是一個人、一件事、一首歌，甚至一句話。
我在2021年時取得作者同意後翻譯這首詩，現在看來也依然很有感觸。一路從作者剛寫詩到現在已經是個出版小有名氣的詩人了，讓我真心覺得才華不會背叛你，也很得意自己的眼光哈哈。
