I walked to the baker’s

我走去面包店

and thought about the bread.

一路想着面包。

And at the corner store

还在拐角的店

the butter. Four kinds of butter!

卖黄油。有四种不同的黄油噢！

I bought them in order

我根据咸度

of saltiness. I studied slang

把它们排成串。我偷偷地

in secret. I said little.

学习当地土语。但是很少说话。

And my students were

我的学生们

so beautiful

都那么漂亮

I couldn’t teach a thing.

我能教的不多

Instead I made them sing.

于是就让他们唱歌。

Twenty-two. Nothing to do.

二十出头。没啥事由。

New York had vanished,

纽约被我抛弃，

Connecticut, too.

康州也随风而去。

My students grew hair

我的学生们一直唱歌，

and got haircuts, grew hair

他们的头发短了又长，

and got haircuts, and sang.

长了又短。

I’d lie in bed and masturbate

我要躺在床上撸一管

and wonder why I’d come,

然后问问自己为啥要干这个

and come and come again

一而再，再而三

and then rise for some bread and a run.

之后起来买面包再跑几圈。

Does the village persist? It must.

这个村庄会永世长存吗？它一定行。

Right now, someone hums “Nowhere Man”

就在此时，有的人咕哝着“没家的男人”

and thinks of that shy teacher from—

曼哈顿奥尔良还是贝莱尔——

Manhattan? New Orleans? Bel Air?

这个害羞的老师是哪来的呀？

And she brushes her lengthening hair.

而她在梳自己一直在变长的头发。