一首诗应像一枚球形的果实

A poem should be palpable and mute

触手可及而缄默无语

As a globed fruit,

哑然

Dumb

像贴在拇指上的陈旧徽纹

As old medallions to the thumb,

沉默如被袖口磨砺的石子

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone

在窗沿上，苔癣满身 ——

Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—

一首诗要不著一字

A poem should be wordless

像鸟儿飞翔

As the flight of birds.

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一首诗要适时停息

A poem should be motionless in time

像月亮的爬行

As the moon climbs,

疏离，像月亮从一根一根树枝

Leaving, as the moon releases

将黑夜纠缠着的树林释放

Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

疏离，像冬季后的月亮将

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,

一片一片的记忆遗忘 ——

Memory by memory the mind—

一首诗要适时停息

A poem should be motionless in time

像月亮的爬行

As the moon climbs.

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一首诗应是等于：

A poem should be equal to:

不必如实

Not true.

为所有忧伤的故事

For all the history of grief

写下一道空旷的门洞和一片枫叶

An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

为爱情

For love

写下倾伏的草地和海面上两柱亮灯——

The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—

一首诗不是表示

A poem should not mean

而是它自己

But be.