A poem should be palpable and mute

一首诗应像一枚球形的果实

As a globed fruit,

触手可及而缄默无语

Dumb

哑然

As old medallions to the thumb,

像贴在拇指上的陈旧徽纹

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone

沉默如被袖口磨砺的石子

Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—

在窗沿上，苔癣满身 ——

A poem should be wordless

一首诗要不著一字

As the flight of birds.

像鸟儿飞翔

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A poem should be motionless in time

一首诗要适时停息

As the moon climbs,

像月亮的爬行

Leaving, as the moon releases

疏离，像月亮从一根一根树枝

Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

将黑夜纠缠着的树林释放

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,

疏离，像冬季后的月亮将

Memory by memory the mind—

一片一片的记忆遗忘 ——

A poem should be motionless in time

一首诗要适时停息

As the moon climbs.

像月亮的爬行

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A poem should be equal to:

一首诗应是等于：

Not true.

不必如实

For all the history of grief

为所有忧伤的故事

An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

写下一道空旷的门洞和一片枫叶

For love

为爱情

The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—

写下倾伏的草地和海面上两柱亮灯——

A poem should not mean

一首诗不是表示

But be.

而是它自己