嘴唇圍成一個O，說「啊」。

Shape the lips to an

這是「島」。

o

, say

一個瑞典詞讓整個街區變得不同。

a

每當我抬頭望去，街角那幢黃色的房子

.

是一艘加利恩帆船擱淺在花的海灘。圍住它的

That’s

island

只有風。碎葉機用力咆哮

.

像船吹響霧角

繞行在迷離的海岸。

One word of Swedish has changed the whole neighborhood.

When I look up, the yellow house on the corner

不用額外費力，生活照常運轉。

is a galleon stranded in flowers. Around it

家庭自我完成

而後安於現狀，

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

它的額頭是一片伸向大海的玻璃

could be the horn-blast from a ship

（後院起風了，紅雀四散）

as it skirts the misted shoals.

即使，某一天傍晚，街角那所房子

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

從沼澤地上起航，

Families complete themselves

我和我的鄰居

and refuse to budge from the present,

也不會感到驚奇。有時候

the present extends its glass forehead to sea

(backyard breezes, scattered cardinals)

一個詞過於完美，它瑟瑟發抖

擔心多餘的解釋。

and if, one evening, the house on the corner

你從一個地方開始，在另一個地方

took off over the marshland,

結束，一切

neither I nor my neighbor

變了樣子，未來回不到過去。

would be amazed. Sometimes

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.