Lanes of Taipei

On your streets, my mother and father fell in love

They hiked your mountains during their study breaks

Sharing their laughter and dreams for the future

Years later, in a concrete house in one of your neighborhoods

My grandfather watched me crawl across the floor

As I grasped the legs of wooden chairs

“She’ll make a very good engineer,” he said

In the years that my sister and I grew up in America,

all of the long-distance calls, all of the airmail letters,

all of the packages received with their fresh new smells led back to you

Taipei, I have seen you change,

As you have seen me change

From baby to girl to teen to woman

Are either one of us recognizable now?

I see the silken headscarves of Indonesian women

Who gather outside Taipei Main Station on their day off

I see two teen boys in basketball jerseys and sneakers

Painting the cracks of an old stone wall

I see a girl ride her bike, carrying an umbrella overhead,

Past billboards of models with milky white skin

I see old men sell rainbow-colored lottery tickets

In front of posters that welcome the latest technology conference

Generations push against each other

Plowing the past to reap the present

Choosing what to pass on and what to leave behind

Motor scooters zoom through

The paved arteries of the city

Buzzing morning, noon, and night

Eventually, all adults become orphans

Searching for the answers

That no elder or spirit can speak

On your streets, I walk as my parents did,

Full of dreams and questions for the future,

My newly matured heart held in my hands

Taipei, I am your wayward daughter

I have come home to pay my respects

I am ready for all that you have to teach me

臺北巷弄

在你的街道上，我父母墜入愛河

課業閒暇他們在你的山上健行

分享笑聲和對未來的夢想

多年後，在你某個區域的一棟水泥房子裡

我的外公看我爬過地板

抓住木椅的腳

「她會是個很好的工程師。」他說

我和我姊姊在美國長大的那些年

所有的長途電話，所有的航空信件，

所有帶著新鮮氣味的包裹都把我帶回你那裡

臺北，我看過了你的改變，

你也看過了我的

從嬰兒到女孩到少女到女人

有人能認出我們其中之一嗎？

我看見戴著絲質頭巾的印尼女人

在她們休假的日子聚集在臺北火車站外

我看見兩個穿著籃球球衣和球鞋的青少年

畫一面老石牆的裂縫

我看見一個騎腳踏車的女孩撐一把傘，

經過一面有著乳白皮膚模特兒的廣告看板

我看見賣彩虹顏色彩券的老男人

身後是一張歡迎最新科技會議的海報

世代彼此推擠

犁去過往收割今日

選擇要繼承什麼又要把什麼留在過去

機車呼嘯著

行駛過城市鋪平的動脈

在早晨、中午和夜晚喧囂

最後，所有的成人都會成為孤兒

尋找沒有任何老人或鬼神

能說出的答案

在你的街道上，我像我父母那樣行走，

充滿對未來的夢想和問題，

雙手捧著我剛成熟的心

臺北，我是你任性的女兒

我回家來向你致敬

我準備好接受所有你要教給我的