[UAE] Manfred Malzahn

January:

       Dawn

The dawn was new

The wide eyes of the morning

Knew no sleep

The heart rose to the hills

The slow soul found the sea

March:

       Change

Get changed. Buy yourself clothes

That fit the fashion. Go

And find another role

Then move. Choose a new town

Where life is lively. Grow
With every sight and sound

And learn. Make all those books

Tell you their secrets. Glow

More with each stranger’s look

And touch. Or leave it all

And keep it simple: just

Hang your mirror on a different wall

April:

      Party

By midnight

The lounge had turned into a ballroom

The kitchen into a bar, and

The toilet into a sanctuary

By one

Small talk had turned into tall tales

Little smiles into big laughs, and

Shy glances into telling stares

By two

Wallflowers had turned into orchids

Lepers into lechers, and

Saints into werewolves

By three

Strangers had turned into friends

Friends into lovers, and

Lovers into strangers

By four

The carpet was a mess

May:

     Blessing

May the right words never fail you

May they do all they should do

May your weighty words land gently

May your witty words pierce through

May your angry words be hammers

Pounding bolted minds and doors

May your little words glitter, like

Fairy dust on ballroom floors

May your loving words be presents

Finely wrapped and well received

May your joking words be laughed at

And your lying words believed

May you never cease to talk

Lest an awkward silence fall

And the ticking of the clock

Echo in the crowded hall

May you never lack a word

To make sure this is not heard

July:

      Miracle

Why walk on water when the land is dry

Turn water into wine when wine is cheap?

To show poor fools such tricks is vanity

Such magic never shall true wonder reap

Let one have spirits at his beck and call

Another wave his wand and brew his potion

Ours is the greatest miracle of all

Two drops of rain that met inside an ocean

August:

      Sheep

See that sheep

Standing in the rain?

Stupidly enough

It endures

The steady drizzle

Of discomfort

Wisely enough

It avoids

Running for shelter
Which isn’t there

But I digress

What was your problem?

October:

       Autumn

Autumn is the time

To tread boldly through cemeteries

The dead are doubly dead

When life dons Technicolor glory

Only because, like the chestnut trees

We have our roots in the grave

May we hold our heads in the air

Our crowns unruffled

And our backs unbent

We laugh in the face of winter

To the last of our autumn days

December:

       Lost

When he was a fly

A drop of rain

Could really

Spoil his day

Now he is an elephant

In a thunderstorm

Lamenting

Lost sensibility

[阿联酋]曼弗雷德•马尔察恩

一月

           黎明

黎明初晓

清晨，眼界大开

了无睡意

心，升上山

徐行的灵魂，觅见大海

三月

         改变

去改变吧，给自己买点衣裳

迎合潮流的。去

寻找另一个角色

迁徙。择一新城

那里的生活充满活力。成长

在每个见闻里

去学习。读万卷书

告诉你书中奥秘。容光焕发

在每个陌生人眼前

触摸。任尔东西南北风

生活简单点，只需

把你的镜子挂到对面墙。

四月

        聚会

凌晨以前

休息室成了舞厅

厨房成了吧台

厕所，成了避难所

一点钟

简单对谈，变作宏大叙事

微微一笑，成了哈哈大笑

羞涩的一瞥，也会眉目传情

两点钟

壁花长成兰花

病猫变色狼

圣人成狼人

三点钟

路人互转粉

友人变恋人

而恋人们，形同陌路

四点钟

地毯上，一片狼藉

五月

        祝福

愿那些恰到好处的词不会辜负你

愿它们各尽其职

愿你那些有分量的话，安全着陆

愿你的睿智之言穿透人心

愿你的发飙狠话化为大锤

震开封闭的心灵之门

愿你的话语熠熠发光，如同

灵巧的尘埃落定舞厅的地面

愿你的爱语出现

被温柔以待

愿众人对你的戏言一笑了之

却相信你的谎言

愿你滔滔不绝

以免尴尬的沉默临到

而钟摆滴答

回响，在拥挤的大厅

愿你能说会道

去使人确信，这些闻所未闻的

七月

        奇迹

地面水都干了，为什么行走水面

酒已都贱卖了，为何变水为酒

给可怜的傻瓜秀这些把戏，都是虚空

这些魔术永远不会真正收效

赐人以灵魂，召之即来

唤人挥动他的魔棒，酿成毒药

这是我们最大的神迹

海洋内部，两滴水交会

八月

         睡眠

看见了吗？那些绵羊

伫立在雨中

够蠢的

它得遭受

不安的雨点，噼啪的

敲打

但又挺聪明的

它避免了

奔向避雨之所

那个乌有之地

但我跑题了

你问什么来着

十月

         秋季

秋季正适合

勇敢穿过墓穴

墓穴的人死了又死

活着的人披上七彩的荣光

只因为，我们的根在墓穴里

如栗树一样                                                    

但愿我们能探头到空中

我们的冠冕淡定

我们骨子里不屈不挠

踩在秋天的尾巴

我们笑对冬季

十二月

         迷失

当他还是一只苍蝇

一滴雨水

足可

荒废它一整天

现在，它是一头象

暴风雨中，雷电交加

哀哭

麻木，无情

                 （彭智鹏  译）

About the author:

Manfred Malzahn, born in Iserlohn in the Federal Republic of Germany, on 21 April 1955. He still holds a German passport, although he left Germany in 1985, after completing his studies of English and German literature and linguistics at the universities of Bochum and Wuppertal, and a subsequent period of non-military national service at the Goethe Institute in his native town. Malzahn then went on to teach at universities in six different countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. He currently works at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, which he joined as a Professor of English Literature in Fall 1998. Beside a body of academic writing that ranges from English, American, African and Scottish literature and culture to recent German history, Malzahn has produced and published poetry and short fiction in English, Scots and German since the mid-1970s. Since his move to the Gulf, some of his work has moreover been translated and appeared in print in Arabic. Malzahn’s creative output also includes numerous song lyrics, occasionally with his own music, but mostly with music that was composed, performed and recorded by different collaborators. He likewise wrote the libretto to a musical drama premiered in Germany in 1996.

作者简介：

曼弗雷德•马尔察恩，1955年4月21日出生于德国伊瑟隆市。1985年离德，在波鸿和伍珀塔尔大学完成英语和德语文学和语言学的学习后，在家乡歌德学院参加非军事性国民服役，目前仍属德国国籍。此后马尔察恩在欧洲、非洲和亚洲的六个不同国家的大学任教，1998年秋受聘为英国文学教授，目前在阿联酋艾因的阿拉伯联合酋长国大学工作。马尔察恩写了一系列学术著作，内容涉及从英语、美国、非洲和苏格兰文学和文化到近代德国历史。自20世纪70年代中期以来，马尔察恩还用英语、苏格兰语和德语写作并出版了一些诗歌和短篇小说。搬至海湾后，他的一些作品又被翻译成阿拉伯文并印刷出版。马尔察恩还创作了大量歌词，偶尔也会谱曲，但其音乐作品多为集体创作和录制。他曾为一部音乐剧写过剧本，并于1996年在德国首播。