我骶髂关节处生有肿瘤，

There is a tumor in my sacroiliac joint

咖啡里落下雪花。

and snowflakes in my coffee.

我与猫儿们身处爱荷华，

I’m in Iowa with the cats

而你远在庞贝。

and you’re in Pompeii.

你发来视频：蜥蜴冲入石灰岩，

You send a video: lizards rushing into limestone

让你忆起童年的佛罗里达。

which remind you of being a kid in Florida.

在佛罗里达，我们曾一边背诵十四行诗，

In Florida we memorized sonnets

一边跳跃在翠绿的安乐蜥之间。

while leaping around green anoles.

我已忘记那些诗歌。

I’ve forgotten the poems.

在酷热中，你仍穿着黑色紧身衣。

Your black tights, even in that heat.

我大概只记得这些。

Mostly that’s what I remember.

不妨和盘托出。

It’s okay to say it straight.

比如：我依然害怕，

Like: I’m scared, still,

我可能正在死去。

that I might be dying.

石榴从庞贝的火山灰中生长，

Pomegranates growing from Pompeiian ash,

不合时宜，有悖常理——

scandalizing propriety—

你发来图片，我并未说：

you send a picture and I do not say,

它看起来只像一棵树

It just looks like a tree

或是上帝的又一个秘密，

or Another of God’s secrets

白白浪费在我身上。

wasted on me.

大脑的哪个部分

Which part of the mind

才能通往灵魂？

gets you to the soul?

我正在读圣十字若望的故事，

I am reading St. John of the Cross,

你可能会把他写进一首诗中：

a character you might’ve put in a poem:

“在生命的黄昏，

In the evening of life,

唯有爱会成为审判的依据。”

we will be judged on love alone.

某只石化的狗。桌上的面包，

Some petrified dog. Table bread,

一扇彩绘的门。

a painted doorway.

你已与我永恒相伴。

You’ve been with me forever.

你知晓我所有的天使。

You know all my angels.

我怎能对你说不，

How could I say no to you,

当你摘下耳环吻我？

taking off your earrings to kiss me?