I hang the still life of flowers

我將那幅靜物花

by a window so it can receive

掛在窗口，好讓它吸收

the morning light, as flowers must.

晨光的照耀，花朵必須如此。

But sun will fade the paint,

但太陽會曬褪它的油彩，

so I move the picture to the exact center

於是我把它挪到一堵暗牆的

of a dark wall, over the mantel

正中央，在壁爐上方

where it looks too much like a trophy—

它太像一件戰利品——

one of those animal heads

一個什麼動物的頭顱

but made up of blossoms.

只不過用花紮成。

I move it again to a little wall

我又把它移到門廳裏

down a hallway where I can come upon it

一面窄牆上，這樣我就能

almost by chance, the way the Japanese

碰巧經過它，好像日本人

put a small window in an obscure place,

在不起眼的地方開一扇小窗

hoping that the sight of a particular landscape

以便窗外獨特的景致

will startle them with beauty as they pass

會把過路人震撼

and not become familiar.

又保持一定陌生感。

I do this all day long, moving

一整天我都在為此忙碌，挪動

the picture or sometimes a chair or a vase

一幅畫，一張椅子或一樽花瓶

from place to place. Or else

從一處到另一處。不然

I sit here at the typewriter,

就坐在這臺打字機前，

putting in a comma to slow down

添一個逗號為長句子

a long sentence, then taking it out,

減速，然後把它刪掉，

then putting it back again

再放回去

until I feel like a happy Sisyphus,

直到自己成為一個快樂的西西弗斯，

or like a good farmer who knows

或者一個好農民，懂得

that the body’s work is never over,

肉體的勞作永無止境，

for the motions of plowing and planting continue

因為耕種的動作年復一年，

season after season, even in his sleep.

甚至在睡夢中延續。