Leafing branches of a backyard plum—

後院的李樹枝萌發新葉——

branches of water on a dissolving ice sheet—

冰蓋融化時分叉的水流——

chatter of magpies when you approach—

當你走近喋喋不休的喜鵲——

lilacs lean over the road, weighted with purple blossoms—

丁香樹探向路邊，枝頭的紫花顫危危——

then the noon sun shimmers the grasses—

正午的陽光迷濛了青草——

you ride the surge into summer—

你順勢進入夏日的波動——

smell of piñon crackling in the fireplace—

矮松氣味在壁爐中畢剝作響——

blued notes of a saxophone in the air—

薩克斯風的藍調音符隱入空氣——

not by sand running through an hourglass but by our bodies igniting—

不是沙漏中沙子在逃逸而是我們的身體在點燃——

passing in the form of vapors from a living body—

以水蒸氣的形式從一個生命體中揮發——

this world of orange sunlight and wildfire haze—

這橘色太陽與野火煙霧的世界——

world of iron filings pulled toward magnetic south and north—

這鐵屑向南北極拉伸的世界——

pool of quicksilver when you bend to tie your shoes—

你低頭繫鞋帶時水銀迅速流動——

standing, you well up with glistening eyes—

當你站起身，兩眼如井水充盈——

have you lived with utmost care?—

你是否曾以最大的謹慎生活？——

have you articulated emotions like the edges of leaves?—

你是否曾像樹葉的邊緣那樣表達情感？——

adjusting your breath to the seasonal rhythm of grasses—

請把你的呼吸調至草木季節性的節奏——

gazing into a lake on a salt flat and drinking, in reflection, the Milky Way—

一邊凝視鹽灘上的湖水，一邊啜飲一道銀河的倒影——