邂逅

復活節假期的早晨，仍不得不進辦公室處理突發狀況。事情不算複雜，卻必須在短時間內完成。兩個小時匆匆，終於告一段落。走出辦公室，秋日微風和煦。既然來到市區，忽然想起桌山。去年辦了一張年卡，一年之內搭乘纜車皆可通行。念頭既定，便往山上去。

纜車站前遊客排成長龍，等候約半個小時才順利登車。纜車緩緩升起，城市逐漸遠離。今日是耶穌升天日，而我暫託纜車之福，拔地升天一千尺。

為何來桌山？來桌山做什麼？問題才剛浮現，景致已經在眼前展開，來得直接而無需解釋。

彷彿在說：

不為何而來，也不為何而去。

山風起，視野豁然開闊。遠方山脈綿延，海灣盡頭隱約可見。天地在眼前鋪展開來，心也隨之寬敞。

岩石之間，你這株野花迎風綻放。鏡頭不得不拉近，因為你遙不可及，山谷間隨風搖曳，孤立而堅定。你在岩石中昂首綻放，伴著十二使徒峰往南綿延，直到希望之角。

或許今日我來，只為邂逅這一瞬你的容顏。

遠處有人行走於山徑之上，據說自好望角而來，已行兩日。人各有路，交叉相會隨即分離，而山始終在此。

日影漸斜，回到纜車站。夕陽落下，城市再次浮現。

或許今日我來，只為邂逅你的容顏。
或許今日我去，只為留下這片藍天。

山已遠去，你的風姿仍未離開。

驀見　驀見
棧末桌山在野花間隱現
人們說你耐乾不畏酷寒
腳下的沙地有流水冷冽

爭否　爭否
林蔭下的沃壤留予鮮花
你擁有浮雲起滅的藍天
光落雲隙如雨沾濕了顏

安然　安然
靜待幾載一場煙火璀璨
隱於果實堅硬中的種子
遇熱隨風飄揚再立峰巔

Encounter

(2014, Revised 2026)

On the morning of the Easter weekend, an unexpected crisis forced me into the office. It was not complex, but demanded haste. Two hours passed, and it was done. Stepping out, the autumn breeze was mild. Being already in the city, the thought of Table Mountain came to mind. I had taken out an annual cableway pass the year before, so I went.

A long queue at the station meant half an hour of waiting before boarding. The cable car rose slowly, and the city gradually receded. It was Ascension Day; carried by the cableway, I rose a thousand feet into the heavens. Why come to Table Mountain? What for?

The question had barely formed before the landscape unfolded, direct and beyond explanation, as if it said:

Not for any reason to come,
not for any reason to go.

The wind moved, and the horizon widened at once. Distant ranges, the faint line of a bay at the worlds end; the earth spread out, and so did the mind.

Among the rocks, you—this single wild flower—bloomed against the wind. I had to draw closer, for you remained out of reach, swaying between the valleys, alone yet resolute. There you stood, head held high among the stones, accompanied by the Twelve Apostles stretching south, all the way to the Cape of Good Hope.

Perhaps I came today only for this, to meet the countenance of your face in this single moment.

In the distance, figures moved along the path; they had come from the Cape, two days on foot. Each has a path; we cross, then part, while the mountain remains.

The light declined. Back at the station, the city returned with the evening.

Perhaps I came only to meet your face; perhaps I leave only to leave behind this blue.

The mountain has gone from sight, but the grace of your presence has not.

Behold, Behold
The mountain looms where the pathways end,
Hidden and seen through the wild flowers bend.
They say you endure the drought and the frost,
In the chill of the sands, where the currents are crossed.

To Strive, To Strive?
The fertile loams in the forest’s deep shade
Are left for the blossoms that flourish and fade.
You hold the sky where the clouds rise and die,
Where light breaks the mist like a tear from the eye.

At Ease, At Ease
Await for years a fire’s bright spark,
A seed held fast in the fruit’s hard dark.
Meeting the heat, it takes wing on the gale,
To stand once more where the peaks prevail.