Into my empty head there come

我空荡荡的脑海里浮现

a cotton beach, a dock wherefrom

一片棉质的海滩，一个码头，

I set out, oily and nude

我从那里出发，油滑而赤裸，

through mist, in chilly solitude.

在寒冷的孤独中，穿过薄雾。

There was no line, no roof or floor

没有一条线，没有屋顶或地板，

to tell the water from the air.

可以将水与空气分开。

Night fog thick as terry cloth

夜雾像毛巾布一样浓厚，

closed me in its fuzzy growth.

以它朦胧的增长将我笼罩。

I hung my bathrobe on two pegs.

我把浴袍挂在两个挂钩上。

I took the lake between my legs.

我把湖水夹在两腿之间。

Invaded and invader, I

我是侵略者也被侵略，我

went overhand on that flat sky.

在那片平坦的天空上俯冲。

Fish twitched beneath me, quick and tame.

鱼在我身下抽搐，敏捷而温顺。

In their green zone they sang my name

它们在绿色区域唱出我的名字，

and in the rhythm of the swim

而我以游泳的节奏，

I hummed a two-four-time slow hymn.

哼着一首两四拍的慢歌。

I hummed “Abide With Me.” The beat

我哼着《与我同在》。那节律

rose in the fine thrash of my feet,

从我脚尖的轻柔拍打中升起，

rose in the bubbles I put out

从我吐出的气泡中升起，

slantwise, trailing through my mouth.

那弧线的气泡，从我嘴里流出。

My bones drank water; water fell

我的骨头喝水；水从我所有的

through all my doors. I was the well

门缝中落下。我是一口井

that fed the lake that met my sea

滋养着湖泊，汇聚到大海，

in which I sang “Abide With Me.”

我在大海中唱着《与我同在》。

【按】这首诗是押韵的，每两行押韵，不过压得很自然，简直不让人觉得压得那么硬。