Darkened by time, the masters, like our memories, mix
先哲们因时间而黯淡，如我们的记忆，龙蛇混杂、
And mismatch,
龃龉失和，
and settle about our lawn furniture, like air
终于偏安于我们的草坪，犹如空气
Without a meaning, like air in its clear nothingness.
丝毫无心，犹如空气带着清澄的虚空。
What can we say to either of them?
对他们或记忆，我们能说什么？
How can they be so dark and so clear at the same time?
为何这两者都会既幽暗而又澄明？
They ruffle our hair,
他们翻弄我们的头发，
they ruffle the leaves of the August trees.
他们翻弄八月的树叶，
Then stop, abruptly as wind.
然后遽然住手，一如清风。
The flies come back, and the heat—
苍蝇飞回了，热浪也如此——
what can we say to them?
我们能说什么？
Nothing is endless but the sky.
除了天空，没有无边无垠的事物。
The flies come back, and the afternoon
苍蝇飞回了，午后的时光
Teeters a bit on its green edges,
在其绿色的边缘步履蹒跚，
then settles like dead weight
然后以其自身的静负载
Next to our memories, and the pale hems of the masters' gowns.
偏安于我们的记忆之侧，偏安于贤哲长袍退色的下摆。
________
*********
Those who look for the Lord will cry out in praise of him.
追寻上帝者将哭喊出他们的赞美。
Perhaps. And perhaps not—
也许。也许不会——
dust and ashes though we are,
尽管我们是尘埃与灰烬，
Some will go wordlessly, some
有人将会无言地离去，有人
Will listen their way in with their mouths
将凭借他们的嘴一路聆听，
Where pain puts them, an inch-and-a-half above the floor.
而痛苦使他们悬浮于地面之上一寸半的高度。
And some will revile him out of love
还有人则会咒骂，出于爱
and deep disdain.
出于深深的鄙夷。
The gates of mercy, like an eclipse, darken our undersides.
仁慈的门户，犹如月蚀，阴暗了我们的下腹。
Rows of gravestones stay our steps,
一排排墓碑粘着我们的步履，
August humidity
八月的湿气
Bright as auras around our bodies.
闪亮如光晕围绕我们的身体。
And some will utter the words,
还有人将从牙缝中挤出一些字句，
speaking in fear and tongues,
带着恐惧，舌头打转，
Hating their garments splotched by the flesh.
嫌恶自己的衣服被玷污了肉体的斑痕。
These are the lucky ones, the shelved ones, the twice-erased.
这都是些幸运儿，免除了义务，名字被二度抹除。
________
***********
Dante and John Chrysostom
但丁和科里索斯托姆
Might find this afternoon a sidereal roadmap,
也许能为这个下午找到一张恒星标注的地图，
A pilgrim's way ...
朝觐之途……
You might too
你也有这种可能，
Under the prejaundiced outline of the quarter moon,
当这如钩的弦月还没有泛出黄疸的轮廓时，
Clouds sculling downsky like a narrative for whatever comes,
当云朵划着双桨滑向天际，犹如叙述着
What hasn't happened to happen yet
那仍未发生、但已在星星背后若隐若现、
Still lurking behind the stars,
所以势必发生的未来，
31 August 1995 ...
此时是1995年8月最后一天……
The afterlife of insects, space graffiti, white holes
虫豸的来生、太空的涂鸦、风景上的
In the landscape,
白色洞穴，
such things, such avenues, lead to dust
这些事物、这些通衢，都引向尘土，
And handle our hurt with ease.
它们处理起伤害也轻而易举。
Sky blue, blue of infinity, blue
天之蓝、蓝得无边无际，大地之上的
waters above the earth:
蓝色水域：
Why do the great stories always exist in the past?
为何伟大的传说永远存在于过去？
________
**********
The unexamined life's no different from
人生，未经审视与反复审察，
the examined life—
绝无任何差异——
Unanswerable questions, small talk,
无法回答的问题、琐碎的谈话、
Unprovable theorems, long-abandoned arguments—
不可证明的定理、搁置已久的争论——
You've got to write it all down.
你应将它们一一写下。
Landscape or waterscape, light-length on evergreen, dark sidebar
无论陆地景致还是水上风光、常青树上的光照面积、
Of evening,
或者黑夜里的庭外媾和，
you've got to write it down.
你应将它们一一纪录。
Memory's handkerchief, death's dream and automobile,
记忆的手绢、死亡的梦与汽车、
God's sleep,
上帝的沉睡，
you've still got to write it down,
你应将它们一一记述，
Moon half-empty, moon half-full,
正午有一半属于空无、月亮只是半圆，
Night starless and egoless, night blood-black and prayer-black,
黑夜没有星星也没有自我、黑夜有黑色的血液与黑色的祈祷，
Spider at work between the hedges,
蜘蛛在灌木篱笆之间忙碌、
Last bird call,
最后一声鸟鸣、
toad in a damp place, tree frog in a dry ...
蟾蜍在潮湿的地方、树蛙在干燥的……
________
**************
We go to our graves with secondary affections,
我们走向坟墓，带着情感这身外之物、
Second-hand satisfaction, half-souled,
二手的满足、朝三暮四、
star charts demagnetized.
星座图已被消磁。
We go in our best suits. The birds are flying. Clouds pass.
我们身穿最标致的套装离去。鸟在飞。云在飘。
Sure we're cold and untouchable,
当然，我们冷冰冰的、不可触摸，
but we harbor no ill will.
但是我们并无恶意。
No tooth tuned to resentment's fork,
没有牙齿会习惯于憎恶的餐叉，
we're out of here, and sweet meat.
我们身在别处，而肉味甘美。
Calligraphers of the disembodied, God's word-wards,
书法家表现着无形体的对象、上帝照看着词语的病房、
What letters will we illuminate?
我们会照亮什么字母令它们豁然开朗？
Above us, the atmosphere,
在我们上方，虚无的大气
The nothing that's nowhere, signs on, and waits for our beck and call.
不在任何地方，它开始招徕我们，等待我们回头拜访。
Above us, the great constellations sidle and wince,
在我们上方，巨大的星群侧身潜行、战战兢兢，
The letters undarken and come forth,
一个个字母从黑暗中显露出来，呈现
Your X and my X.
你的前生、我的前世。
The letters undarken and they come forth.
一个个字母退去黑暗，显露出来。
________
**********
Eluders of memory, nocturnal sleep of the greenhouse,
记忆纠缠不到的人、温室的夜眠、
Spirit of slides and silences,
滑音与静寂的精灵，
Invisible Hand,
无形之手啊，
Witness and walk on.
你见证又继续前行。
Lords of the discontinuous, lords of the little gestures,
诸神啊，你们前言不搭后语、细微的手势难以分辨，
Succor my shift and save me ...
请将我脱离此生、令我得救……
All afternoon the rain has rained down in the mind,
整个下午，雨一直像雨一样在我心中滂沱，
And in the gardens and dwarf orchard.
也瓢泼于果园与矮树林。
All afternoon
整个下午，
The lexicon of late summer has turned its pages
残夏的词汇表在大雨纷飞中
Under the rain,
翻转着页码，
abstracting the necessary word.
抽取不可或缺的字词。
Autumn's upon us.
秋天降临我们了。
The rain fills our narrow beds.
雨水注满我们狭窄的床铺，
Description's an element, like air or water.
描述犹如空气与水，也是一个元素。
That's the word.
就这个词罢。