這事發生在不久以前，他們神智

In those times, beside waters

未之能及的水邊，當所有經緯

unseen by human eyes,

線索到此都不甚分明或一時

unmapped by longitude or latitude,

失察便如夢的領域陷入隱晦

this world sank toward darkness

like a forgotten dream.

那時星辰都已依照座落指派

成型，各自尋到光度合適的位置

By then the stars had formed

冷氣團天上生滅有或無，黑潮

their constellations, already aligned

在海底提示詩的音律和意志：

bright pathways through the skies.

Cold fronts in the stratosphere

邊緣？從我鎖定的方位東南望去

came and went, dark currents

看得見夕照自對角以剩餘的漏斗

deep in the oceans

小量過濾到我們青春的峰頂

surged like the pulse of poetic will.

罕見的飛鼠在露水裏錯愕驚醒

Boundaries? To the southwest,

惟恐所向無非宇宙創生後某紀

twilight’s last inflections

一些自戕之殘餘，窮寇，暗中以

fanned between young peaks.

劫後的廢氣偷襲我新綠的林相

Squirrels already settled

表裏，歸巢的羽類避之惟恐不及

startled in the dew

螢光明滅浮沉於盛夏的胸懷

and birds took frightful wing.

釋出深邃的畏懼，好奇，和創造力

Into green forests spilled the poisoned air

為無邊的黑暗點燈，多層次的天路

of eruption. The birth pangs,

一夕盡毀於弔詭的野火

self-destroying, self-creating

of a whole planet, fluorescent

當森嚴的山勢從高處俯瞰，看見

in high summer’s breast,

一隊抹香鯨在偏南的水域日夜泅行

awe and creation flaring

不知道是為遷徙，追踪，抑或遊戲

in the deep abyss, mountainsides

直到先後都在陌生的沙灘上擱淺

erased by hellish fire.

流泉迅速循浮雲摺角飛濺

Now we gaze from heights

直落新蘚與舊苔的石碐，藤影裏

at pods of sperm whales

依稀聽得見地球反面彷彿有女聲

night and day swimming south,

輕歌低吟，久違的那一邊

migrating, hunting,

some beaching far from home.

她略過一些我們早期的共同經驗

寒武紀接近奧陶的魚貝和珊瑚

Spring rains come swift as clouds,

遲到的爬蟲類，恐龍生與死

dropping onto jagged, mossy rocks.

一貫快長不已的菇菌，豐草，巨木

Shaded by vines, one can hear,

as if from the other side of earth,

直接進入預言裏終將到臨，人與碳

a goddess singing soft and low,

煎熬的世代：山無陵，江水

為竭，冬雷震震，夏雨雪

having missed the Cambrian,

天地合，只剩得

Ordovician fish, shells, corals,

late reptiles, the rise and fall of dinosaurs,

這海上渺茫的邊緣，日光

early fungi, lush grasses, giant trees.

輻輳，深淺的風雨過境

As prophesied, she stepped into the epoch

赤石罅中競生著絕無僅有

when humans wrestled carbon,

一系列宛轉變色的欒樹林

flattened mountains, dried rivers to their beds,

made winters thunder

and summers snow, made skies fall,

leaving

this ocean’s horizon, bundled spokes

of sunlight, sweeping winds,

storms that break upon us all.

From the clefts of naked rocks arise

golden raintree forests, shifting shades.