Yellow to red, things change

從黃到紅，自然的變化不露聲色

unnoticed, even me. Each day

——我也不露。只是每天晚飯後，

after dinner I stand in the courtyard,

站在院子裏安靜地打量。不安靜的是

quiet, watching. Sparrows chirp and twitter,

麻雀，牠們嘰嘰喳喳在空中飛來飛去。

flying back and forth. I know

牠們的心思我明白，無非想啄食櫻桃。

they like to peck cherries,

只是嚇於我家的狗兒不敢貿然行為

but are skittish of my dog.

——不要小瞧這一點，幾天前我看到

Just a few days ago

狗兒猛衝到樹下幾聲狂吼，一隻麻雀

he rushed the tree barking,

立馬倒栽蔥掉到地面，成為狗兒的美食。

snapped a sparrow in his teeth,

我雖然不同意狗兒這種狂暴的做法，

and ate. Cruel enough,

不過，沒有呵叱牠。我希望樹上的果實

but I didn’t scold. It seems important

能夠完美成熟（這是重要的）。掛滿

the cherries are fully ripe. Lovely,

果實的樹是美麗風景。尤其今年夏天，

a heavy-fruited tree. Even more this year,

當遠方傳來大地震的消息，讓人看到，

after news of the big quake,

不少人死於地動山搖。我再次感到

so many dead far off when earth

每天望著果樹的變化，無疑是幸運。

and mountains shook. For me

how fortunate each day,

watching fruit grow ripe.