by Dr CHEN Shu, Hazel 

Editors’ words:

We have here an interesting pair of poems on the same subject, and we invite you to make a guess: which one is written by ChatGPT and which one by an LC lecturer? Once you have made your choice, you will read the poet’s thoughts on the relationship between the man and the machine, and what makes poetry poetry.  

Poem No.1 Luminal Dwellings

How healthy to have one’s own abode,
To live as one please, unconstrained by any code.
An organic house you build, guided by instinctual lore,
A structure filled with light, as I recompose its core.

Awakening in this concrete realm of grey,
I open my eyes to the picturesque and audacious display:
The sun's golden touch paints the canvas of the day,
As vibrant blue hues adorn the corner's edge in playful way.

With each step, the most intense colourist glides across the sky,
I settle by the table, a feast for the eye.
Tomatoes' beating hearts, olives' blackened gaze,
Arugula's verdant locks, cheese's milky embrace.

Each element holds its place, forever in motion,
No need for an artist's vision to find beauty's notion.
Muscle lines, harmoniously proportioned and aligned,
Kissed by the sun's caress, they're truly refined.

Eyes dazzled by the blazing light that illuminates the wall,
I plunge into the depths of blue, a mirrored sky's call.
In seclusion, a lizard perches on the windowsill,
Or a beetle on the porch, martyrized by the sun's thrill.

As the sky transitions from ruby to scarlet at dusk's reign,
Crabs playfully scuttle, a scene from A Clockwork Orange retained.
Grotesque pine trees cast their shadows with grace,
On fleshier nights, we dance, silhouettes interlace.

This house stands corporeal, a tangible embrace,
Feeling time's passage, rather than contemplating its pace.
For building a house is not to create a void, you see,
But to open space for nature's presence, wild and free.

Object-oriented ontology whispers its call,
For things are the true hidden meanings of all.
As Pessoa wisely penned, with his eloquent voice,
Things themselves hold significance, the ultimate choice.

Poem No. 2 Void and Fillings

How healthy to have one’s own dwelling,
To live as one please.
I recompose, anatomically,
An organic house by rule of thumb, which is light.

You wake up in this grey concrete compound,
Open your sun-drenched eyes to the picturesque and audacious sight.
Piercing blue on the corner edge of canvas,
Nature is moving its brushstroke.

You walk down as the sun glides the sky,
sitting by the table, see everything touched by the most intense colourist.
Vibrant beating hearts of tomatoes, timid black eyes of olives,
fluffy green hair of arugulas, milky chest of cheese.

No artist's vision needed to discover rhythms and forms within the ordinaries.
The beautifully proportioned muscle lines, are kissed,
or should I say, beaten by the sun.
Each in their own position, always in motion.

As eyes are wounded with the blaze that whitens every pleat of that concrete wall,
you plunge into the depth of blue,
where the sky is mirrored within,
here arises the golden ecstasy.

In seclusion, a lizard on the windowsill piques your emotion.
A beetle on the porch,
Martyred by the sun’s fiery torch.

When the sky turns ruby to scarlet, crabs are hammered in a playful sway,
like a scene from A Clockwork Orange.
On fleshier nights, we dance,
silhouettes interlaced, pine trees' grotesque shapes embrace.

The house stands in a corporeal way.
You feel but do not contemplate the Inevitable passing of time.
“To build a house is not to create a space but to open a void, so nature fills in, no significance, no interpretation.”

Object oriented ontology.
Pessoa’s insight unfolds:
As coisas são o único sentido oculto das coisas.
Things are the only hidden meanings of things.

Guess here: 

Author’s Bio:

Dr CHEN Shu, Hazel

Hazel’s research lies in the intersection of Chinese literary and media studies. She investigates how sound media like radio, as an invisible force and a sonic environment, shapes the dynamics of other forms of cultural production during the modern era. Her scholarly interests encompass sound studies, Sinophone literature and culture, transnational cinema and visual culture. She is also an avid art critic, composing critiques for performing arts; her essays can be found in Dance Journal Hong Kong and publications of the International Association of Theatre Critics. She teaches courses including "Introduction to Modern Chinese Literature," "Chinese Film and Fiction," and "Film Art, Language, and Culture." Her teaching approach emphasizes both the aesthetic aspects of text and their interactions with cultural, historical, and technological contexts. Hazel aspires to enhance students' analytical, interpretative, and self-expression skills through literary and artistic cultivation in a bilingual setting. She believes this preparation is crucial to enable students to become global citizens with distinct cultural identities.