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1
桃子在枝梢轉紅；黑暗中，
Peaches redden on branches; in the dark,
我放下灌溉渠的閘門——有個女人
I drop the irrigation gate—each month
每月橫穿哈瓦那灣前來，凝視
a woman crosses Havana Bay and, looking
開闊的水域，召喚她的母親——
at the open water, reclaims her mother—
我聞到花園裏
I smell the bloodred strawberries
血紅的草莓；駐足綠漆剝落的水箱前
in the garden; at a flaking green tank,
我側耳聆聽：一束黃光投射在鄰居
I listen: yellow light shines at a neighbor’s
八角形的窗上；天色漸明，獵戶座趨於黯淡——
octagonal window; Orion dims as the sky lightens—
我只不過是一顆漫遊的塵埃
what am I but a wandering speck
徘徊著，髒污著，顛躓著，書寫著——
rambling, smudging, stumbling, writing—
有人打開車門偷取25美分硬幣——
someone opens a car door and steals quarters—
峽谷對面，兩戶人家燈影綽綽；
across the valley, two lights flicker from houses;
我站在一個陡坡上，諦視
standing before a sharp descent, I look
逐漸充盈的月亮——大爆炸
at a waxing moon—the Big Bang’s
一直在場——我閂住綠鐵門
always present—I latch a green metal
走過空蕩蕩的馬廄，聞到你睡夢中翻身時
gate near the empty stable and smell
脖子的氣息；
your neck as you turn in your sleep;
日光已照亮露臺的廊柱；
daylight reaches the porch post columns;
我拉開玻璃門坐在桌邊，
I open a glass door and sit at a table,
光在木地板上匯成一池。
where light pools onto the wood floor.
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2
黑蝴蝶舉平雙翼——
A black butterfly opens its wings—
坐在一輛巴士的金屬座位上，我發現司機頭頂的金屬板已經銹蝕，點點日光
sitting in a bus on a metal seat, I notice the steel above the driver has corroded,
川流而過——
and pinpricks of daylight stream through—
兩艘驅逐艦停泊近海——
two destroyers moored offshore—
他在腳手架上用油漆滾把大樓刷成大海的藍——
on a scaffold, he uses a roller and paints the building marine blue—
默劇演員頭戴銀帽，身穿銀衣——銀色的手和臉——在餐館裏尺蠖般移動——
a mime in a silver top hat, silver jacket—hands and face, silvered—inches
through a restaurant—
站在樹蔭裏擡頭凝望一棵佈滿瘤刺的吉貝木棉樹的枝葉——
standing in the shade looking up into the branches and leaves of a thorned ceiba
一個掃街人背井離鄉創立了連鎖餐館——
tree—
兩個男人推著屠豬骨架從門口穿過——
a street sweeper emigrates and founds a chain of restaurants—
歌手晃著沙槌隨音樂搖擺——
two men push pig carcasses on a cart through the doorway—
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a singer shaking maracas sways to the music—
俄羅斯鼠尾草誘惑著空氣——
3
壁爐架上燭火跳動
Russian sage scents the air—
芬芳升起——
the aroma of flickering candles
我竟然站在這山脊上注視天邊低垂的金星——
on the fireplace mantel—
一隻黑熊掀翻車庫裏的垃圾桶
that I am even here standing on a ridge looking at Venus low in the sky—
吃掉了剩餘的
墨西哥鷄肉捲——
a black bear overturns a dumpster in the garage
and eats remnants
士兵們牽著狗在機場大廳穿行——
of a chicken enchilada—
我在你胸脯上塗油——
soldiers move through the airport with dogs on leashes—
在舊德里，敞口的筐子裝著番紅花，小豆蔻，
I rub oil on your breasts—
生薑，寶鼎香——
in Old Delhi, uncovered bins with saffron, cardamom,
一張告示提醒恐怖襲擊隨時發生——
ginger, turmeric—
我草草記下所想以便即使在黑暗中將之忘卻
a poster warns of an imminent terrorist attack—
亦可在天明時失而復得——
I jot things down so that when I lose them in the darkness
舞者們戴著約魯巴面具登場了——
I may recover them quickly with the dawn—
我嘗到你脖子上鹽的味道——
dancers emerge wearing Yoruba masks—
竟然全世界的河流都匯入大海——
I taste the salt on your neck—
竟然我還活著聽見迴旋的灑水器把水噴向草地——
that the rivers of the world flow into the seas—
竟然我們的身體哼唱著日復一日——
that I am alive and hear rotating sprinklers jet water onto the grass—
俄羅斯鼠尾草從黑暗中顯形——
that we go through the day humming in our bodies—
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Russian sage emerges out of darkness—
八月的太陽，羅勒的結籽期——
一個默劇演員扮成建築工人
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In August sunlight, basil plants go to seed—
塗著金色的皮膚，戴金色的護目鏡，頭盔，
a mime dressed as a construction worker
拿金色長柄錘，站在石磚馬路
with gold skin, gold goggles, helmet,
蔭涼的一邊；當你把零錢
and sledge hammer, stands in the shady
投進箱子，他微笑鞠躬——
side of a cobbled street; when you drop
一個女人送你一本詩集；
some cash in the box, he smiles and bows—
當你讀到「貧窮之地」
a woman gives you a book of poetry;
你面生慍色：如果思想閃耀火花
when you read la pobreza del lugar,
便沒有不毛之地；否則，撒哈拉沙漠的丘陵
you bristle: no place is impoverished
將綿亙不止；太陽落山，
if the mind sparks; if not, the dunes
涼爽的沙稜在星空下展開——
of a Sahara have no end; the sun sets,
而思想結籽時，駱駝出沒於沙丘
and a cooling range is under the stars—
載你去往一片綠洲，
when the mind seeds, a camel emerges
你將在那裏飲用死藤水：一夜未眠過後，
out of a dune and you ride it to an oasis,
守夜禮的引領者戴上美洲豹的面具
where you imbibe ayahuasca: up all night,
變身為美洲豹，
when the man leading the vigil puts on
你舉起雙手，它們閃耀蝴蝶的火花。
a jaguar mask and becomes a jaguar,
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you raise your hands, and they spark butterflies.
歌手晃著沙槌隨音樂搖擺——
5
街邊，一個黑人推著掛架上一串串洋蔥懸擺的手推車唱誦著「賣洋蔥啦」——
A singer shaking maracas sways to the music—
一個女孩露出銀色的臉和手，穿銀色的襯衫裙裾，手捧一束銀色的花——
in the street, a black man pushing a cart with strings of onions dangling from the
frame sings, “Onions for sale”—
一輛1953年的紫色雪佛蘭擦得熠熠發光與一台天藍色龐帝克並排停靠——
a girl with silvered face and hands, blouse and skirt, holds a silver bouquet of
院子裏，觀峰玉開花——
flowers—
他母親的父親曾擁有一片甘蔗園但在他母親嫁給一個黑白混血掃街人之後剝奪了
a purple 1953 Chevy with polished chrome parked alongside an azure Bonneville—
她的財產繼承權——
in the yard, a flowering boojum tree—
坐在巴士烤箱中——
his mother’s father was the owner of a sugar plantation and disinherited his mother
默劇演員身穿深海潛水衣，頭盔在手，一步步登上樓梯——
after she married a mulatto street sweeper—
黑蝴蝶斂翼——
sitting in the oven of a bus—
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a mime dressed as a deep-sea diver, helmet in hand, inches up the stairs—
樹幹上分佈密集的瘤刺——
我想起鳴角鴞在木樁上歇息
a black butterfly closes its wings—
被紫藤的茂葉蔭蔽——
落雪的院子闃寂無聲，
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森林大火的餘燼
Clusters of conical thorns on the tree trunk—
飄墜屋頂，冬季的星空
I recall screech owls perched on a post
在一天之內轉為夏日的朗照。
protected from sunlight by wisteria leaves,
我看見藤架間的眼型吊鈎上
the hush in the courtyard during a snowfall,
竪直別著一根老鷹的撥風羽，
cinders from a forest fire alighting on
紅色與橙色的九重葛
the roof, and how winter starlight shifted
從陶盆向上交纏探索
to summer sunshine within a single day.
壓向天花板和玻璃門；
In the eyehook between shelves, I see
兩次我踩到鹸蝕的地板
the upright primary wing feather of an eagle,
腳上扎了刺。我感知到缺席的
the red and orange bougainvilleas,
在場與在場的缺席：
entwined, rising from a pot pressing
當五月的輕雪落在走道上
against the ceiling and against glass doors;
旋即消融，當激浪翻湧
twice I stepped on lye-softened floorboards
席捲過廣場和林蔭大道。
and caught splinters. I mark presence
in absence and absence in presence:
as a May snow landing on a walkway
dissolves as it lands, as surf rises
and sweeps across the plazas and boulevards.