Not yet completed

Because there is sunshine, there is shadow.

Only because of darkness do we know there was once sight.

That sea, that mountain, those people.

It's not love.

Sometimes aversion, sometimes hatred.

More often, indifference.

We wave with shadows,

Quietly stirring the undercurrents,

So the next tide is a little different.

Goodbye sea, goodbye mountain, goodbye people.

It's not love at parting,

It's parting for love.

  ——〈Waving〉

 

Idly flipping through a book, I read the commentary on the 'Wei Ji' hexagram, which says, "The little fox is almost across, wetting its tail." This vivid metaphor depicts a little fox crossing a river and getting its tail wet, illustrating its predicament. With short legs and deep water, crossing hastily is certainly dangerous; it's better to wait. The ability to wait indicates that the opportunity is still ahead. The river will not always be turbulent, and the little fox will grow older. Just be patient and wait.

  ——〈Postscript: Wei Ji, Bu Ji, Um Ji〉

 

Why write poetry?

 

Fan Shan-biao has used two and a half poetry collections to attempt to answer this question, and has tentatively arrived at the following answer:

 

"To write poetry or not to write, why to write, and how to write—in this time and place, these questions inevitably carry the meaning of scrutinizing or reflecting on one's stance. However, recalling the process of approaching poetry, how I observe and grasp it, experience and feel it, I can never consolidate it into 'one' irrefutable discourse.

 

Frankly, for me, writing poetry is purely out of curiosity, hoping to understand more of others' unusual landscapes through practice. As for how unusual my own landscape can be, that is a matter of secondary importance."

——〈The Public and Private of Poetry〉

 

Since retiring from his university teaching position, Fan Shan-biao has not been idle. Following the publication of his essay collection "True and Illusory" last year, he has now released a collection of poetry. This book is also the author's 2.5th poetry collection; his previous works were "Mechanics" (1999) and "Dark Flight" (2006). It has been almost twenty years since his last poetry collection was published. All works not collected and published in the past twenty years are included in this book.