吳  郁  欣           l        YuHsin Wu

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. 
I want to know what you ache for 
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. 

 

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. 
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool 
for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. 

 

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon... 
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow 
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals 
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. 

 

I want to know if you can sit with pain 
mine or your own 
without moving to hide it 
or fade it 
or fix it. 

 

I want to know if you can be with joy 
mine or your own 
if you can dance with wildness 
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes 
without cautioning us 
to be careful 
to be realistic 
to remember the limitations 
of being human. 

 

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. 
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. 
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. 
If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. 

 

I want to know if you can see beauty 
even when it is not pretty every day. 
And if you can source your own life from its presence. 

 

I want to know if you can live with failure 
yours and mine 
and still stand at the edge of the lake 
and shout to the silver of the full moon, 
“Yes.” 

 

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. 
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me 
and not shrink back. 

 

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. 
I want to know what sustains you from the inside 
when all else falls away. 

 

 

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself 
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. 

 

Poem By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming, from the book The Invitation published by HarperOne, San Francisco

 

 

 

你靠什麼謀生，我不感興趣。 我只想知道，你渴望什麼？

你是否有勇氣追逐你心中的渴望。 

 

你的年齡，我不感興趣。 

我只想知道，你是否願意冒險，哪怕看起來像傻瓜的危險， 

為了愛，為了夢想，為了生命的奇遇。 

 

什麼星球跟你的月亮平行，我不感興趣。 

我只想知道你是否看到你憂傷的核心。

生命的背叛，是敞開了你的心， 還是令你變得枯萎，

因為害怕更多的傷痛。 

 

我想知道你是否能跟痛苦共處， 無論是你的 或是我的， 

而不想去隱藏它、消除它、修復它。 

 

我想知道你是否能跟喜悅共處，不管是你的或是我的， 

你是不是能跟狂野共舞，讓激情充滿了你的指尖到趾間， 

而不是警告我們要小心，要實際，要記得做為人的侷限。 

 

你跟我說的是否真誠，我不感興趣。 

我只想知道你是否能對自己真誠，哪怕這樣會讓人失望。 

你是否能忍受背叛的指控，而不背叛自己的靈魂。 

我想要知道你是否能夠忠實而足以信賴。 

 

我想要知道你是否能看見美，即便並不是每天都是美好。 

你是否能從生命的體現找到你的源頭。

我想要知道你是否能跟失敗共存， 無論是你的還是我的，

還能站在湖岸， 對著滿月的銀光吶喊 「放馬過來吧！」 

 

我對你認識誰，或如何來到這裡並不感興趣。 

我只想知道你是否會和我一起站在火堆中央而不寒顫退縮。 

你在哪裡學習？學過什麼？跟誰學？我都不感興趣。 

我只想要知道，當所有的一切都消逝時，是什麼在你的內心，支撐著你。

我想知道，
你是否能和自己相處。 
在空虛的時刻裡，
你是否真的喜歡做自己的伴侶。