Shape the lips to an

嘴唇圍成一個O，說「啊」。

o

這是「島」。

, say

a

一個瑞典詞讓整個街區變得不同。

.

每當我抬頭望去，街角那幢黃色的房子

That’s

是一艘加利恩帆船擱淺在花的海灘。圍住它的

island

.

只有風。碎葉機用力咆哮

像船吹響霧角

One word of Swedish has changed the whole neighborhood.

繞行在迷離的海岸。

When I look up, the yellow house on the corner

is a galleon stranded in flowers. Around it

不用額外費力，生活照常運轉。

家庭自我完成

the wind. Even the high roar of a leaf-mulcher

而後安於現狀，

could be the horn-blast from a ship

它的額頭是一片伸向大海的玻璃

as it skirts the misted shoals.

（後院起風了，紅雀四散）

We don’t need much more to keep things going.

即使，某一天傍晚，街角那所房子

Families complete themselves

從沼澤地上起航，

and refuse to budge from the present,

我和我的鄰居

the present extends its glass forehead to sea

也不會感到驚奇。有時候

(backyard breezes, scattered cardinals)

一個詞過於完美，它瑟瑟發抖

and if, one evening, the house on the corner

擔心多餘的解釋。

took off over the marshland,

你從一個地方開始，在另一個地方

neither I nor my neighbor

結束，一切

would be amazed. Sometimes

變了樣子，未來回不到過去。

a word is found so right it trembles

at the slightest explanation.

You start out with one thing, end

up with another, and nothing’s

like it used to be, not even the future.