To celebrate 2021 St. Patrick’s Day, this Office is delighted to share an original composition by Irish poet Laura-Blaise McDowell, entitled ‘Sure Home’. This poem truly encapsulates both the beauty of Ireland and the elegance of its literary heritage.
We also invite a renowned Taiwanese poet, CHEN Yuhong to translate this lovely piece into Mandarin and recite it in Mandarin.
Hope you enjoy it and happy St. Patrick's Day.
Sure Home
Eighteen hundred miles, the geese fly to Ireland for winter, from the glittering tundras and icy cities of the northern world, arriving here,
their silhouettes scratched like Ogham into the skies above the suburbs
They descend on Bull Island, alight in Ringsend
On a still March morning, I am awoken by the calls, announcing their arrival in the warmer climate as they scatter across the field outside my window
Geese have an intense need to communicate, always chattering
they have come to the right place
On a still March morning, I am awoken by the calls, announcing their arrival in the warmer climate as they scatter across the field outside my window
Geese have an intense need to communicate, always chattering
they have come to the right place
On a still March morning, I am awoken by the calls, announcing their arrival in the warmer climate as they scatter across the field outside my window
Geese have an intense need to communicate, always chattering
they have come to the right place
The home of storytellers, a land where there is no solid word for yes, only specific confirmation, ‘I did,’ ‘we are,’ ‘it is’, a certainty at our core
And so a thousand geese and I, at this moment, gather in the warmth of our shared shore
there is no doubt we are together, in the surest place on Earth
When I see the geese I think of our travelled distance, to be a warmer country, one where those with stories come and share in the way in which we let love grow
like gorse alight across our hills and when I see more birds
coming steadily in
With the thrill of the V formation, an easy understanding
the gentle music of unified wings
An ancient sense of belonging
Laura-Blaise McDowell
Laura-Blaise McDowell was born in Dublin in 1992, and graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from UCD. As an iconic young Irish writer, she is well-known for writing short stories. In 2019, her short story ‘Balloon Animals’ appeared in No Alibis Press’ anthology of new Irish writing, Still Worlds Turning. Her poetry and prose have been featured in renowned Irish newspapers and literature websites.
〈可靠的家園〉(Sure Home)
飛了一千八百哩，大雁飛來愛爾蘭過冬，從北地閃亮的凍原和結冰的城
大雁來到這裡
彷彿愛爾蘭古老的文字，牠們的身影劃過市郊上空
低掠過公牛島，降落在林森市
一個寂靜的三月清晨，在呼喚聲中我醒來。大雁四散在我窗外田野
宣告牠們抵達這較溫暖的氣候帶
大雁有強烈的溝通欲，不停喋喋說著
牠們來對了地方
這是說故事人的家園，這裡沒有僵化的「是」，只有獨特的
肯定語法：「我做到了」，「我們就是」，「這就是」，一個內在的信念
所以一千隻大雁與我，在這剎那，聚在我們共有的溫暖海岸
毫無疑問我們相聚了，在這地球最可靠的角落
看到大雁，我想到我們曾如何長途跋涉，成為一個更溫暖的國度
這裡有人帶著故事沿路分享，沿路我們讓愛
像荊豆在山丘落地蔓生；也當我看到更多鳥
穩穩地抵達
以讓人振奮的V字隊形，一種從容的體悟
以動作劃一的翅膀的悅音
一種古老的歸屬感
Chen Yuhong
Chen Yuhong, born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, graduated from the Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages. She won Taiwan’s Chinese Writers & Artists Association Medal of Arts for her work ‘Enchantment’, and the Best Poetry Collection of the Year for her collection Trace/Sous rature. In 2017, she received the prestigious Taiwan United Daily News Grand Prize in Literature. Her famous poem ‘I’ve Told You’ has been translated into English, French and Japanese.
