Before dawn, I walked under a big palm

淩晨我經過一棵棕櫚樹，它很高，

beside a taller streetlamp,

但它旁邊的一根燈柱比它還高，燈光投下

the glare through the fronds

跟白天一樣濃厚而清晰的樹蔭。

spilling sharp as daylight.

我便停下來歇歇腳，點一根煙，

I stopped and lit a cigarette

像在夏天的樹蔭裏納涼那樣站著。

as if in cool summer shade.

腳下的樹蔭在風中起舞，扇一般猛搖晃，

Then a breeze came, and from the earth

扇葉像一群蜻蜓在猛飛。

danced up a scatter of shadows,

swaying, fanlike, its blades of light

fierce as a swarm of dragonflies.