On my way to water the strawberries

那時我正要去給草莓澆水，

at dusk—I gardened in those days—

黃昏時分——我需料理我的菜園——

I saw a raccoon clasping the outdoor spigot

我看見一隻浣熊握緊門口的水龍頭

like a sailor’s wheel, using both paws,

彷彿水手操控船舵，兩隻爪子

that seemed more and more like hands

越看越像一雙手

as it kept twisting until water gushed

不斷擰動直至水流

out of the copper nozzle and it drank.

從那銅嘴噴出，牠喝水。

I hadn’t thought of it in years, not even

很多年沒想起這件事，哪怕有一次

after I saw another raccoon, high-stepping

看到另一隻浣熊在大白天

the coyote fence mid-day with a limp vole

高步跨過土狼圍欄，一隻田鼠

overhanging its mouth. Such a singular sight,

軟綿綿啣在口中。多麼罕見的一幕，

I had to tell you, and blurted it out as soon

我一見到你，就忍不住脫口而出，

as I saw you, a piece of domestic gossip

像第一朵綻開的番紅花或鄰居的嘈吵

like the first crocus or noisy neighbors:

成爲一則家庭八卦：

common property, like so much in marriage—

公共財產，如同婚姻中許多事物——

a small business, a friend called it, down to

一個朋友稱之爲小本生意，包括

the cooked books. Only later, after I spotted

做假帳。後來，我認出了

the raccoon sauntering through a line

你詩行裡信步走過的

in one of your poems . . . only after the pressure

浣熊……我不快的情緒壓力鍋

cooker of my displeasure caused you to recast

迫使你將浣熊和田鼠

your raccoon and vole as skunk and mole,

改成臭鼬和鼴鼠，

did I flash on the one I’d seen decades before:

我終於記起多年前的那隻：

its lack of furtiveness, the air it had

沒有鬼鬼祟祟，那神氣看起來

of being within its rights, the way it took its time

天經地義，甚至不慌不忙

to retrace its steps to turn the water off.

沿路返回，關掉水龍頭。

—Or did it amble on and let the water run?

——又或者從容走過，任水流不停？

No copyright protects idle talk, you might have said,

閒談不受版權保護，你也許這樣說過，

or: the imaginarium of marriage knows no bounds.

或：想像的婚姻之地沒有邊界。