On Chinese New Year Day I received an email from Indian poet A.K. Das asking me to comment on his newly written poem 'That's it!' I told him that the subject was rather timely and interesting and I would find some time to translate it into Chinese.
--William Marr

Dear Dr. Marr,
Recently I read in a newspaper a survey report about relationships being terminated on mobile phone text message. I've attempted a poem 'That's it!' on the subject which is somewhat offbeat. I'm not sure about the literary worth of such type of poetry. Here is the poem. Would you kindly comment?                         With regards, A.K. DAS

That's it!

A chance meeting in a cyber cafe,
tete-a-tete over instant coffee,
then intimate dating,
and the script is written:
"that's it – we're in love."
Everything seems dreamy;
a rhapsody of romance
rings in the air;
two lovebirds saunter
hand in hand, flaunting
as if it's a life-long bond.
The initial spell of wonder
wearing off,
things start souring relation:
tone edgy, eyebrows frowning,
rift widening.
But no ranting, no sobbing,
and no desire to confront either;
only a mobile phone
sends the message
of a few words:
"that's it – it's the end".

春节元旦那天我收到印度诗人A.K. DAS 寄来的电邮，上面附了一首题目叫“就这样!”的诗请我提意见。我回信告诉他说这首诗写得颇有趣也多少反映了这个时代，我会找时间把它翻译成中文。——非马

亲爱的马博士:
最近在报上读到了一篇关于用手机断绝关系的调查报告，我试着把这多少有点不落俗套的题材写成一首叫“就这样!”的诗，但不太敢确定这类诗的文学价值。下面是这首诗。能否请批评? A.K. DAS 敬上

就这样!

在一个网巴偶然相遇，
面对面喝速溶咖啡，
接着是亲密的约会，
而脚本写就:
“就这样——我们恋爱了。”
每样事都如真似幻;
一支浪漫的狂想曲
在空中鸣响；
两只爱情鸟手牵手
漫步，得意洋洋
有如一个终身的盟约。
最初神奇的魔力
渐渐消失，
关系开始变质：
声调提高，眉头皱起,
裂缝加大。
只是没有叫嚷，没有啜泣，
也无心面对;
只在手机上
送个短讯：
“就这样——终结了。”