Monday, May 4, 2009

象棋 Chinese Chess

象棋
Laijon Liu 2009

红绿两军分营垒, 万象征战一盘棋.
楚河汉界曾盟誓, 结义弟兄背信争.
驱车纵马斩士相, 火石发炮灭卒兵.
试问古今众将帅, 为谁生死为谁赢?

   -> 赞唐朝乐队

Chinese Chess
By Laijon Liu20090503

Red and green pieces are in formation on each side,
And countless phenomenons struggling on one board.
River Chu and border Han where two brothers sworn,
But now they abandoned their word and started a fight.
Drove the chariots, led the knight to slain the advisers,
Lit the fire, loaded the stones to wipe out foot soldiers.
But I want to ask all the generals from history to present,
For whom you die and survive and for whom you win?

Note:
I used to play chess, played pretty well. Recently arranged my books, and dug up some manual and strategy books. And immediately a poem struck my heart as below (the Chinese poem that really naturally formed itself that I did not even have to put more thoughts to edit it). So I put it down and did English translate.

象棋
Laijon Liu 2009

红绿两军分营垒, 万象征战一盘棋.
楚河汉界曾盟誓, 结义弟兄背信争.
驱车纵马斩士相, 火石发炮灭卒兵.
试问古今众将帅, 为谁生死为谁赢?

Friday, May 1, 2009

Quit The War, And Come Back We Fuck

Quit The War, And Come Back We Fuck
By Laijon Liu 20090430

I long for your hands that holding me,
And how your legs wrapped around.
Your eyes, oh two mystical stars,
Shining above and always entice.
Your sweet drops of morning dews
Do become the evening mist if I call.
And the night rains with your smell
Do quench the seasons of my thirst.
My breath does echo your heartbeat,
As your warmth spreads and pumps.
Your chest, my pillow and our canoe,
Together we row away to the open sea.
But now where are you, my love?
Quit the war, and come back we fuck.

Note:
I wrote the following passage some days ago, but didn’t immediately load it, I felt it should be edited because I used too many likes like my normal days:) And my purpose was to transfer the spirit of some Tang Anti-war poems (mainly those masters use the content of young separated lovers such as their grief and longing… to express their disliking for war, that I believe their method is the best to write an anti-war poem, love is the opposite of war, and love is the best reason that people refuse to go to a war for all generations and culture in every period of history) into a contemporary style, yet I could not use their content that would be plagiarizing, but to only borrow their way of thinking, or I called it their spirit. So after some days arguing with my inner-self on the subway and at work while listening some good Chinese Rock music, eventually we agree with each other that above 14-line poem is the final thing (I don’t intend to put this into a sonnet format, me dislike too many rules, meters, because my inability to follow and liberty is a beautiful thing:). And the last word is a controversial word that I have thought many times to replace it with some or any other word, that to show readers that I am a really classy type guy:) but still I could not find one that truthful, straight, lively, and young and eagerly, so we decide that word is the best to close this poem. I borrow a young lady’s voice as I imagine her husband away at war, and that how she longs for him, and calling him to come back.

Come Back And We Fuck
By Laijon Liu

I like your hands, how they hold me;
I like your legs, the way they wrap around me;
I like your eyes, that they are stars, look over me.

I like your sweet sweat drops,
Like the morning dews or the evening mist,
Raining down as I call for each and all seasons.
I like your breath and smell,
Your heartbeat and warmth,
And every time I can feel your drum and pump.
I like to rest my head on your chest,
And together we rise and fall
Like canoeing in the sea.
So my love, please come back,
Come back, and we fuck.