Contents

1. 新造之歌 國際歌尾奏conflicting voices
2. Love and Death
3. We are the world
4. My Love, My Lord, My Salvation
5. Abba, Father
6. Prayer
7. A Star Rises
8. Truth and Freedom
9. A Call from My Hometown
10. The Song of Salvation: Pananoia and Life

1. 新造之歌 國際歌尾奏 conflicting voices
∼謹獻蒼天大地及受苦的人民∼
歷史 台灣 我的母親 我的鄉愁
——後現代文學長廊裡的徘徊省思與嘆息
媽媽 我的台灣 我的唐山
台灣的人民在二二八吶喊
炎黃的巨靈 流浪的閃族
世世代代的魂魄
媽媽 我是台灣
怨恨殺氣是一道長河
流自該隱
流自背叛的兩河
聽遠古那驕傲的巨靈
中原古龍的怒吼幾曾昨日

媽媽 我的唐山 我的中國
我在忍淚
漢唐的古人
悠悠的長歌
今夕昨日
豈非荷馬的英雄流浪
是艾略特心靈的荒原
乾旱 蝗蟲 假先知
列寧的遺像 撼動中國
大地的鞭傷 文革的哭號
昨日天安門挖穿該隱的血河
唉 慘
沒有神 沒有人 只有物質
荒塚仇殺是爆裂江河的叫囂
是解構時代
尼采巨魄的悠悠傳神

媽媽 我的中國
何處是兒家
冬寒愛解
父權消逝
我可以說台灣話嗎
我是在地人嗎
媽媽 我是蕃薯 我是台灣
沒有學運 沒有坦克 沒有六四 沒有濺血
只有中國 我的先人
我的眼淚 我是中國
詩書禮數 天下為公

我是蝗蟲的食客
我是醉酒忘事的Rip Van Winkle
傾聽Blake的來世歌
看無花果樹發芽的兆頭
從來沒有一個救世主
如果你不救自己
今世沒有各各他
如果你不背十字架
我的愛人我的鄕愁
千古哀愁怎堪字行承受
黃河的悲催年少白頭
告訴我
媽媽 憐憫的晨光已經遲到
是否當台灣人學會遺忘
中國的鄉愁就在台灣
我是蕃薯 是中國 更是亞當

媽媽 媽媽 媽媽
是西風的故鄉
歷代聖哲的愛歌
盪迴天上人間
故鄉 故鄉 吾愛 吾母
解構中的台灣汪洋中的荒原

June 16, 1998
A nonconformist in Postmodernity


2. Love and Death
A blue fish raised in a pot
Blue, blue, blue for me
Was sick, I see.
Swimming in stones picked from sea of Galilee,
He always welcomed my feeding with a sense of jubilee.
The weather of my life sea
Had been howling, I didn’t see.
Sea monsters suddenly loomed to kill me.
Peace with me fled me.
However, my fish was so sad for me
That he, blue, blue, with me
Died for me.

II
I grew a rose for my love,
With faith of a dove,
Hoping that blossoming at my anniversary
Can show my love.
Watering, nourishing and wishing for my love.
Our love affairs seemed to break a cave.
Our rose meditating on love is willing to
Blossom for great love.
With hope and God’s love,
She gave forth seven roses, symbolic of eternal love.
I on that day proudly showed my complete love
To my love, my beloved dove.

Paul Tseng 8/1/1999/8/12
writing for a failure in a Ph.D entrance exam and for
the first wedding anniversary in my life


My Angel Gone
My son, pap do love, is gone.
My heart, treasuring you, is down.
My angel, my angel,
Why you are gone.
Pap do love you, with tears down.
With days, weeks, months, years gone,
In another world thousands of miles down
Sleeping my angel, peaceful with princes, dignitaries, And all ages of crown.
Without masters, without slaves, only dust and dung
My angel, pap do love you, pap do love you
With time gone, with wind blown.
Pap do love you until my breath is gone.

Writing for my aborted son Paul Tseng 8/12/1999


3. We are the world
The spring sun piercing through clouds,
Ice and snow breaking in hearts,
Stream flowing while grass sprouts.
A cowboy with a flute
Singing a song of songs,
Refreshing love as the earth awakens.
I know God if life resurrects,
Idling humans that
We still live and
We love all the friends in the worlds.

Paul Tseng (writing for a president of a private university in Taiwan, for his kindness of sending a series of CDs entitled “Songs of Life” as his present for my wedding ceremony on July, 25, 1998.) 3/5/1999


4. My Love, My Lord, My Salvation
Little lamb, little lamb, why art thou so silent?
Little lamb, little lamb, why art thou so silent?
Thou bear the pains of my soul;
Thou listen to a suffering soul, tortured, crying in the wilderness of the world.

Why doth the stars shine under the silent sky?
Who ever sees the tears shed from my eyes;
the forest of the world is so dense;
the journey is tiring; a traveler wandering under the
sky is whispering a story, composed of all sad, broken
memories;
my salvation, my little lamb, sacrificed on the cross, comforts the broken heart.

Silence, silence, silence.
Broken, broken, broken hearts.
Salvation on the cross washed away all dirt,
Like spring rain fell down on the waste land.
My love, my God, my salvation.

Paul Tseng, mid-autumn festival, 2007 in Taipei


5. Abba, Father
in memory of Prof. Yangs former President of
Soochow University
A Weak Voice from a Prodigal Son


Abba, Father in the heaven
Never forgets me.
He loves me indeed.
Abba, Father in the heaven
Clothes me with His care
Just as he cares about a little lily
Forgotten by all indeed.

Abba, Father loves me indeed,
Leading me in whatever need.
In my heart so deep,
Belief so deep;
Abba, father,
You care about my real need.

Abba, father, loves me indeed.
I can not breathe without thee,
I have no joy without thee;
The only reason for me to live,
Is for thee.

Abba, father, I can not breathe without thee;
You sent you son, who was crucified for me.
Salvation indeed is the real essence of thee;
Thus I fly towards the call from thee;
And I will die for thee.
I am also transformed into a little lily for thee, Blossoming only for thee,
And perishing for the earth created by thee.

Abba, lather, I forever love thee.
In the heart so deep,
Like the sea created by thee.
Abba, lather, I never forget thee,
Who never forgets me,
And who is willing to live and die for me,
A lily in weed.

Paul Tseng, May 10, 2008 in Taipei, Taiwan


6. Prayer
Stars are shining in the sky;
God cares the people who cry.
Summer midnight is so calm,
It’s God who keeps my heart warm.

Little lamb, little lamb,
is the brightest star in the sky;
The cross is the midnight wind,
For how can the innocent lamb die?
His love is wind,
Telling me to pray for the difficult road,
Leading to the dream in the sky.

When I cry, I pray under the cross beside,
Until the sun shines.
Spring only comes,
When I look unto the cross.
Dreams will come true,
When my old self dies through and through.

The bell of the church rings,
Only when my heart is equals to innocence.
And the night ends,
I will smile under the shadow of the eternal cross.

August, 8, 2008, Taipei


7. A Star Rises
In memory of the graduation ceremony of my only son from the kindergarten

A little star rises, a little star rises from the uttermost innocence,
Shining in God’s grace.
My son, my pride
With God’s grace in Taiwan’s sky strides.
Unique in God’s eyes, shining in the skyline
Slimming in the East, telling the story of
enjoying the Lord’s joy, peace and abundant grace, destined in eternity.

A little star rises in the dark sky of the little island,
With God’s providence, shining forth his love and wisdom
For his mother country, for this piece of land, for the suffering people
Of his race.

Oh, little star,
May God bless you, may God bless you.
Eternally shines forth in the sky.
A rising little star,
Mom and Pap treasure in heart, forever expecting your supreme guide
To lead you to write pages and pages of
Inerasable history for your race.

July, 11, 2008 in Taipei County of Taiwan


8. Truth and Freedom
Confined in a corner of a leaf,
Floating in the ocean;
Confined in a shade of the ancient tree
Of Han Chinese;
A seed has been looking for soil;
A drop of rolling water is searching for eternality of the ocean.

When horizons of bias, when lies of the wolves clothed in sheep’s skin,
Are shaking the boat,
A little lamb is praying for the shining of truth.
Supreme Being’s mercy may dip
The dry land of a humble sinner,
Crying for the land, shivering on the boat.

My family, my country, my Taiwanese fellowmen,
Peace be in our heart.
Freedom be with the eternal truth,
When we turn, when we turn,
To the sun of righteousness,
When we kneel,
Meditating on the history of salvation.
When love conquers all,
When silence affirms truth.

Paul Tseng April, 12, 2008 in Taipei


9. A Call from My Hometown
Dear God, can you tell me
When spring comes, where can I look to thee?
As a prodigal son came back to his father’s home, God, please keep my heart warm.

Thinking over the dialectics of life and death,
My heart, like a spring brook, echoes your depth,
A call from thousands of years ago,
Pre-determining where I should go.

The winter winds cease;
The glass on mountains grows.
A call from heaven goes,
Echoing in my heart,
Ever tasting God’s grace sweet.

Heaven father, I love thee.
My hometown is calling me.
As a brook returns to the mother ocean,
I kneel down
Weeping,
Abba, Abba, I come,
My Lord, My God,
Comes back your prodigal son.

May 13, 2008 in Taipei, Taiwan


10. The Song of Salvation : Pananoia and Life
I am a Ph.D student majoring in American and British literature in a national university. I have believed in Jesus Christ as well as His words—the Bible for more than twenty years. As a senior high student, I read an article entitled “What Does Man Live for?” by a Russian writer. And when I read the climax of this article, I figured out that man lives for the resurrection life and love. At that moment, I burst into tears. The eternal love and everlasting life fountain combine to be the meaning of a life meaning seeker’s life. In addition, after that experience, I read some psalms in the Old Testament, which then seemed to enlighten my soul so much that I cried and turned to God, and even repented for my sins.

After being redeemed and enlightened by Jesus Christ and His words, I went through the difficult years of seeking my academic degrees. Born in an unhealthy family, I could not gain emotion and financial support from my family. For ten years, I loaned my tuition fees from a bank and worked part-time to support myself. Poverty, loneliness, hardship, struggle and tears. However, Jesus Christ, the Bible and church life have been my mental support and fountain of life. God’s provision, encouragement, and comfort actually helped me overcome these difficulties and hardships.

Unfortunately enough, I got a nervous breakdown when I was 29. At that time, the doctor said it was impossible for me to get fully recovered. I have struggled to beat the mental disease for 13 years during which I survived the challenges: I passed the Ph.D entrance exams after applying six times; I built up a happy new family; I published several books; and I teach in colleges and work as a Soho.

This is totally God’s grace. And I am willing to witness His mercy, love and wisdom. And may glory, praise to Him forever.

Paul Tseng Feb. 17, 2005