有太多興衰

Too many rises and falls

沒有記錄在

are not recorded in the books

那些戰爭燒毀的書籍裏。

that are burned in usual wars.

是否有人寫過

Has anyone written that crumbs

從窗口丟出去的麵包屑

thrown from a window fall faster

墜落的速度大於雪花，瀑布只是受到

than snowflakes, that waterfalls are merely

名字的牽累？他們書寫帝國

victims of their names? They write of the fall

和時代的衰敗，但沒人去寫一位老人

of empires and epochs but not

他看見了推土機

of the old man who looks at a toy

挖出來的玩具。

dug up by a bulldozer.

交通燈無法阻止時間，

Traffic-lights cannot stop time

我們的不確定僅僅是

and our uncertainty is just

一種秘密的存在方式。

a way of existence for secrets.

恐懼總是在遠方

Fear exists in the distance

當灰燼

when soot splits off

從升騰的火星中剝離，

from the sparks flying skyward,

可是至今無人

but no one so far has written

用論文去描寫蠟燭的輕煙

a tractate on the candles’ smoke

如何融入黑夜

that melts into night

或滴落的蠟液

or on the drops of wax

如何在我們鞋子上凝固；

that harden on our shoes;

每個人都在談論

everyone speaks of the flame

那照亮我們面龐的火焰。

that illuminates our faces.