After Island《島嶼後像》



時值春分,我又來到這座島嶼上。


這裡沒有迷霧,也沒有春雨,就如我五年前初訪一樣,陽光依舊溫暖,大地如常翠綠,大海也同樣平靜,唯一的改變大概就只有因發展而換上的雙層巴士。


我收拾好行裝,手捧著旁軸相機,重新成為一個倚賴身體記憶的旅行者。透過觀景窗直視熟悉的風景,我如同固執的牛群沿著往常的游牧路線一樣,開始將舊日走過的地方再走一遍。


我從渡假酒店沿著海岸的公路徐步前行,經過海灘,腳步掀起沙子,繞了幾圈,又站在原地等待。後來我鑽進鄉間小路,跟隨腳印來到荒原,也總算會合了水牛群。他們有些在泥漿潭翻滾降溫,有些在樹底歇息,逍遙自在。他們會以舌互相舔吮,似要在這個荒謬的時代安撫對方,相濡以沫,龐大的身軀有著如此溫柔的舉動,這是所有生命體的共性。


在某種意義上而言,他們已經成為我生命力量的象徵,而這座島嶼的南岸則成為我記憶的終途。一晃神,我回眸過去,發現他們早就已經消失不見,只剩下幾隻牛背鷺,還有被重重踐踏過的草堆。


這一定是太陽惹的禍,我沒有半點怨言,因為這是再自然不過的事。


那烈日眩光散射在天上,在地上,在海上,也落在視網膜上,殘像、灼痛卻伴隨而來,等到日落之時才慢慢消退。到了深夜,我反被自己打出來的光弄得掙不開眼。儘管如此,我仍希望把這道短暫的光收進心裡,記住那些模糊的景像,因為我要展現「曾在此」的證據。


但願我們也不再需要效法這個世界,只要心意更新而變化,讓一切隨光也隨心。



The spring arrives, as I arrive in this island again.


With neither mist nor spring drizzle, the warm sunlight, the verdant grassland, the calm sea … they remain as they were in my first visit five years ago. Perhaps the double-decker is the only development.


I pack my stuff, grasp my rangefinder camera, and become a traveler relying on the body memory. I devour familiar scenery through the viewfinder. I follow old paths to old spots like stubborn cattle roam through their pastoral route every day.


I start from a holiday resort and stroll along a coastal drive. I enter a beach. Grains of sand linger around footfalls. I circle about and come back to where I start. Through a rustic lane, I follow a trail of footsteps to wilderness where I rejoin the cattle. Some are cooling themselves off in the mud pond; others are letting up under the tree. They moisten one another as if a way of comforting in the times of absurdity. Such a bulky body, such a tender move … such affection is common to all life.


They symbolize my life force, to a certain extent. The south bank of this island becomes an end of my memory. Spaced out into nostalgia, it strikes me that the cattle are gone. Only a few egrets and trodden haystacks remain.


It must have been the sun. I have no complaint. Nothing could be more natural.

© 2016-2022 Chan Long Hei 
Using Format