There is a tumor in my sacroiliac joint

我骶髂关节处生有肿瘤，

and snowflakes in my coffee.

咖啡里落下雪花。

I’m in Iowa with the cats

我与猫儿们身处爱荷华，

and you’re in Pompeii.

而你远在庞贝。

You send a video: lizards rushing into limestone

你发来视频：蜥蜴冲入石灰岩，

which remind you of being a kid in Florida.

让你忆起童年的佛罗里达。

In Florida we memorized sonnets

在佛罗里达，我们曾一边背诵十四行诗，

while leaping around green anoles.

一边跳跃在翠绿的安乐蜥之间。

I’ve forgotten the poems.

我已忘记那些诗歌。

Your black tights, even in that heat.

在酷热中，你仍穿着黑色紧身衣。

Mostly that’s what I remember.

我大概只记得这些。

It’s okay to say it straight.

不妨和盘托出。

Like: I’m scared, still,

比如：我依然害怕，

that I might be dying.

我可能正在死去。

Pomegranates growing from Pompeiian ash,

石榴从庞贝的火山灰中生长，

scandalizing propriety—

不合时宜，有悖常理——

you send a picture and I do not say,

你发来图片，我并未说：

It just looks like a tree

它看起来只像一棵树

or Another of God’s secrets

或是上帝的又一个秘密，

wasted on me.

白白浪费在我身上。

Which part of the mind

大脑的哪个部分

gets you to the soul?

才能通往灵魂？

I am reading St. John of the Cross,

我正在读圣十字若望的故事，

a character you might’ve put in a poem:

你可能会把他写进一首诗中：

In the evening of life,

“在生命的黄昏，

we will be judged on love alone.

唯有爱会成为审判的依据。”

Some petrified dog. Table bread,

某只石化的狗。桌上的面包，

a painted doorway.

一扇彩绘的门。

You’ve been with me forever.

你已与我永恒相伴。

You know all my angels.

你知晓我所有的天使。

How could I say no to you,

我怎能对你说不，

taking off your earrings to kiss me?

当你摘下耳环吻我？