For me, April calls to mind two very different poems. The first is T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” written in 1922:
“April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing / Memory and desire, stirring / Dull roots with spring rain.”
The second is Lin Huiyin’s 1934 poem “You Are Here Among Us as April Days: An Ode to Love.” It describes her feelings for the poet Xu Zhimo, who had passed away several years before:
“I say you are here among us as April days / The laughter filling the air / The nimbly dancing, ever-changing spring light / You are mist on a spring morning / A light breeze at sunset / Stars twinkling unwittingly / A soft rain shower in front of flowers / … / You are love, are warmth, are hope / You are here among us as April days.”
Another interpretation of the poem is that Lin wrote it about her newborn son Liang Congjie. But setting aside the question of whom she was addressing, one thing at least is quite clear: her joyous appreciation for April.
And what does April bring for you and me? Taiwan Panorama’s cover focus this month is on children and the arts. It comprises stories on illustrated books for children, and on choral singing, ballet, and calligraphy by children. We also include a special report on theater classes for the children of Southeast Asian immigrant mothers. We hope to convey a core value—namely that a broader and more varied education can bring greater joy to children’s lives.
For this issue we also conducted in-depth interviews with designers of varying backgrounds and fields. Hsieh Jung-ya, who has won more industrial design prizes than anyone anywhere, recalls how he worked with Foxconn’s Terry Gou to come up with the concept of “wall economics.” Because his family was poor, the Paiwan Aboriginal clothing designer Andre Kao dropped out of school in his first year of junior high in Taitung and went north to find work. Kao describes how he managed to make a name for himself in the highly competitive world of fashion.
In recent years, the creative output of Taiwanese youths has grown ever richer and more varied. Board games and locked room alternate reality games offer totally different ways of having fun. Taiwan has an impressive contingent of outstanding game developers, who produce games of widely varying content that combine entertainment with education.
No matter our age, in a month so imbued with the spirit and vigor of childhood, let us set aside our burdens and recapture a sense of innocent joy!
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