In those times, beside waters

這事發生在不久以前，他們神智

unseen by human eyes,

未之能及的水邊，當所有經緯

unmapped by longitude or latitude,

線索到此都不甚分明或一時

this world sank toward darkness

失察便如夢的領域陷入隱晦

like a forgotten dream.

那時星辰都已依照座落指派

By then the stars had formed

成型，各自尋到光度合適的位置

their constellations, already aligned

冷氣團天上生滅有或無，黑潮

bright pathways through the skies.

在海底提示詩的音律和意志：

Cold fronts in the stratosphere

came and went, dark currents

邊緣？從我鎖定的方位東南望去

deep in the oceans

看得見夕照自對角以剩餘的漏斗

surged like the pulse of poetic will.

小量過濾到我們青春的峰頂

罕見的飛鼠在露水裏錯愕驚醒

Boundaries? To the southwest,

twilight’s last inflections

惟恐所向無非宇宙創生後某紀

fanned between young peaks.

一些自戕之殘餘，窮寇，暗中以

Squirrels already settled

劫後的廢氣偷襲我新綠的林相

startled in the dew

表裏，歸巢的羽類避之惟恐不及

and birds took frightful wing.

螢光明滅浮沉於盛夏的胸懷

Into green forests spilled the poisoned air

釋出深邃的畏懼，好奇，和創造力

of eruption. The birth pangs,

為無邊的黑暗點燈，多層次的天路

self-destroying, self-creating

一夕盡毀於弔詭的野火

of a whole planet, fluorescent

in high summer’s breast,

當森嚴的山勢從高處俯瞰，看見

awe and creation flaring

一隊抹香鯨在偏南的水域日夜泅行

in the deep abyss, mountainsides

不知道是為遷徙，追踪，抑或遊戲

erased by hellish fire.

直到先後都在陌生的沙灘上擱淺

Now we gaze from heights

流泉迅速循浮雲摺角飛濺

at pods of sperm whales

直落新蘚與舊苔的石碐，藤影裏

night and day swimming south,

依稀聽得見地球反面彷彿有女聲

migrating, hunting,

輕歌低吟，久違的那一邊

some beaching far from home.

她略過一些我們早期的共同經驗

Spring rains come swift as clouds,

寒武紀接近奧陶的魚貝和珊瑚

dropping onto jagged, mossy rocks.

遲到的爬蟲類，恐龍生與死

Shaded by vines, one can hear,

一貫快長不已的菇菌，豐草，巨木

as if from the other side of earth,

a goddess singing soft and low,

直接進入預言裏終將到臨，人與碳

煎熬的世代：山無陵，江水

having missed the Cambrian,

為竭，冬雷震震，夏雨雪

Ordovician fish, shells, corals,

天地合，只剩得

late reptiles, the rise and fall of dinosaurs,

early fungi, lush grasses, giant trees.

這海上渺茫的邊緣，日光

As prophesied, she stepped into the epoch

輻輳，深淺的風雨過境

when humans wrestled carbon,

赤石罅中競生著絕無僅有

flattened mountains, dried rivers to their beds,

一系列宛轉變色的欒樹林

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.