When I walk beside their white stones, these dead

從白色的石頭間穿過，死者

seem no closer, but no farther,

不離我們更遠，也不更近

the cemetery so luxuriant,

墓地總是這樣茂盛

its own landscape

作為風景，總是這樣獨立

green with spring, the stones even whiter.

春天它更綠，石頭更白

Today, my father’s a water buffalo

我的父親，今天是一頭水牛

grazing forest glades,

在林間空地上吃草

stronger, more solitary than before.

比生前要強壯、隔絕

Those smaller creatures

那些更小的動物

could be grandfather, grandmother.

可能是我的祖父、祖母

One’s gone docile as a goat.

我的外公，像山羊一樣順從

A small bird passes, a butterfly,

一隻小鳥飛過，或一隻蝴蝶

older ancestors,

它們是更遠的祖先

their coffins underground

地上闔上的棺木就像

like bean-pods in the palm.

手邊的這個豆莢

At the edge of town, the cemetery knoll

墓地在郊外提醒著人們

stands to remind. I stop a moment

用它山頭的形狀

on its downward slope,

我從山坡上下來或站在原地

unlike the grass or gravestones,

像草木間的另一件東西

yet one thing more among them.

既不同於草木也不同於墓碑