最近開始接觸現代詩，在閱讀曾國平的《查無此人》當兒，腦海裡一直在想著：如果有活動或是演出能欣賞詩集中的詩歌演繹，我一定會去。有些詩詞只適合一個人慢慢琢磨或是靜靜的閱讀，但《查無此人》 時而波瀾壯闊、時而感人，那一定會是非常精彩的表演。
《查無此人》是以詩人與他父親疏離的關係為開端，追溯父親兒時、年少的過往，從而洋洋灑灑穿梭於歷史的不同朝代和中華民族落腳的土地，以其為題材，講述移民、新加坡華人的民族記憶等。詩集的格局從個人、家庭為起點，慢慢的擴大至華族幾千年的歷史， 讀者也彷彿和詩人一起踏上回憶、歷史的旅程。
以下的幾句是我印象最深刻的部分。
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我沒有父親的記憶
我只有父親
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他走進照片
走進族譜
走不進我的心
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父親因為懷念家鄉
練就一流廚藝
一道道客家山水
被他搬到湯裡菜裡
挪到餐桌
安慰他的中年老年
無數黃昏黑夜
我也在這些香味認識
永定老家
It’s not often that I read modern Chinese poetry but I’m so pleased to dip my toes back in the genre through Singaporean poet Chan Kok Peng’s (曾國平) newest collection. With 60 standalone poems that string together to form a narrative, it’s a stunning collection of performance poetry and seeing how the poetry evoke emotions that run the gamut, I do hope that I can attend the poet’s reading or to watch a stage performance. The title speaks of absence, which is also a key running theme. It starts off with the poet’s somewhat estranged relationship with his father, and from the theme of familial relationships, the collection builds up its momentum to cover expansive topics from the Chinese diaspora, the diaspora identity and the passing down and loss of culture / traditions, which as a Singaporean Chinese, I can relate to very strongly. It’s a powerful and emotional collection.
My favourite bits are the ones directly about the father-son relationship and how the narrator navigates his relationship with his father and tries to understand his father by recounting and reflecting on his father’s youth, intertwined with the history of the Chinese diaspora and the “Sinophone” literature, and then bringing us even further back to the years of different dynasties in China.
I love how in poetry, a lot of things are up for the reader’s interpretation and one of the personal takeaways from the collection is a deeper reflection of what it means to be diaspora / overseas Chinese and how we engage with our identity/identities and our “Chineseness”.
Definitely worth reading.
Get it at Seabreeze Books (還風書屋)