Taiwan 2009 (Part 4) – Taiwanese Salmon

My first encounter with Taiwanese Salmon was back in Feb, 2008. It was at the National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium at the southern tip of Taiwan when I saw few of them swam in a tank. I was shaken by the idea that a specie spent much of its life in the vast ocean could end up landlocked accidentally and survived somehow in the river since the ice age. I mentioned briefly about it in my blog entitled Memory deeper than Ocean back on Feb 14th 2008. During my recent trip to Taiwan, I traveled to WuLing Farm武陵農場 where QiJiaWan River 七家灣溪, the home of Taiwanese Salmon, flows through. It was exciting to see them in the wild.

Somehow I feel connected to the Taiwanese Salmon, being an immigrant who accidentally ended up staying in U.S. and witnessed our children born and grow up in this country. I am no poet, but the best way to record my feeling and thought seems to be in the form of a poem. Here it is.


鮭鄉
-訪台灣武陵農場櫻花鉤吻鮭


那年春天﹐
無邪天真﹐
牽著手走向山巔。
嚮往著雲端﹐
卻摘回朵野花。

那年夏天﹐
英氣勃發﹐
來到冰冷的殿堂。
學一片巧思﹐
也多了份矜持。

那年秋天﹐
遨游大海﹐
到了宇宙的盡頭。
前不見古人﹐
只有情人相隨。

那年冬天﹐
穿越群山﹐
如激流的鉤吻鮭。
百萬年後﹐
雖去了鄉音,
仍捨不得鄉愁。

附記:台灣櫻花鉤吻鮭原為大海洄游性魚類,冰河時期陸封隔絕於大甲溪上游一帶。現有少數存活於武陵農場七家灣溪野生動物保護區。