Days I’ve spent brooding over this timetable—

連續幾日我思索這張時間表——

a schedule for birds I can’t identify

我從未去過的堪薩斯城裡

in Kansas City, a place I’ve never been.

一些我認不出的鳥的日程。

According to it, a cedar waxwing’s routine

上面說，雪松太平鳥的出沒

is irregular, but a catbird can be clocked:

沒有規律，但有一隻灰貓嘲鶇比較準時：

arrival 4:30, departure 9:25 (date unspecified).

4:30出現，9:25離開（日期未註明）。

Where the birds come from—where the birds go—

鳥兒從哪裡來——飛向何地——

vagaries of wind—velocity—fate—how much

變幻無常的風——風速——命運——牠們所需的

food (sleep) they need—are matters the timetable

食物（睡眠）——時間表上

doesn’t address. Even what’s relatively simple,

概無記錄。連一些簡單的事實也沒有，

like who choreographs the interplay

譬如那些交互空中的飛行路線

of multiple flight paths across the sky,

由誰人編舞，

or how twenty-three species all due to land

或23種預計在5:01同時登陸的

at 5:01 coordinate their simultaneous descents,

鳥群如何協調彼此的降落，

is beyond its scope. (What can’t be answered

均超出了它的範疇。（無法回答的事情

often goes untouched.) A few of the sightings—

往往無人問津。）幾個觀測地點——

of cardinal, kingbird, red-headed woodpecker,

北美紅雀，霸鶲，紅頭啄木鳥，

chimney swift, goldfinch, meadowlark—

煙囪雨燕，北美金翅雀，西草地鷚——

are confirmed by someone’s light pencil mark.

被人用鉛筆輕輕圈出。

Five out of six catalogued owls—great horned,

六種編錄在冊的貓頭鷹中有五種——大雕鴞，

long-eared, barred, barn, and screech—

長耳鴞，橫斑林鴞，西倉鴞，鳴角鴞——

are residents who never leave. The short-eared owl

是此地的留鳥。短耳鴞

arrives at 10:10 (am? pm?), departs at 3:15.

在10:10（上午？下午？）出現，3:15離開。

The least bittern, the short-billed marsh wren

姬葦鳽，短嘴沼澤鷦鷯

arrive together (4:10) and stay the summer,

同時到來（4:10）並盤桓整個夏天，

while the lapland longspur and arctic towhee

而鐵爪鵐和斑唧鵐

winter over. Some birds—the shoveler,

會在此越冬。一些鳥——琵嘴鴨，

the blue-winged teal—were seen leaving

藍翅鴨——被觀察到離開

but no one knows what time they came;

但抵達時間不詳；

others, like the coot, duly checked in

其他的，比如白冠雞，按時報到

(2:30) but managed to lift off undetected.

（2:30）飛去無蹤。

And you? Will your arrival, your crowning,

那麼你呢？你的到來，你的著冠，

be clocked? A penciled note, a bracelet

是否被記載？一張鉛筆字箋，一條

of red thread twining your fledgling wrist?

紅手繩纏在你羽翼未豐的手腕上？