吃過晚飯，你們用油膩未清的碗喝茶

After dinner, you pour tea in your small rice bowl,

茶在飯屑中間蕩起緩慢的水弧

tea leaves swirling among the specks,

像一段婚姻的中游水

like the stream of a marriage midcourse,

漫不過沙岸日積月累的安全肘

too sure to crest its sand-layered banks,

拔不去蘆葦長相廝守的水下根

too slow to loosen its deep-rooted reeds.

我們往來此地，一個用眼睛

We’ve been here, been there, our eyes

一個用眼睛以外的眼睛

seeing what’s to see, what’s not

直到夜的侵蝕完全

before night’s curtain.

晚飯過後就是寧靜

After dinner, serenity

讓沉默說話，讓睡眠說話

till silence speaks, till sleep.

讓白日高熱的鎢絲烘暖濕涼的夜色

Let this tungsten, its filament white as sunlight,

用過去的餘燼探照明天的晴雨

warm the damp, cool shades of night.

說過去是否可以稱之為選擇

Let the embers of the past reveal tomorrow’s skies.

說將來會不會依然選擇過去

Talk of the past as if chosen.

Talk of the future as if past.

晚飯之後亮起了燈

疲勞的臨照延續到吃喝以外

After dinner, light the lamp.

吃飯的人，一直飽足到深夜

The weary day reclines beyond its food, its drink.

Those who eat stay full till midnight.