Malu Cycles/瑪璐循環
Translated from the English
I pay.
In dream: Susie’s medical bill.
For real: Moana bar tab.
我付款。
夢中:蘇西的醫療費。
現實:莫阿娜酒吧賬。
Time I write letters
to three widows
and to ring one widower.
是時候
給三個寡婦寫信
並給一個鰥夫打電話了。
Oh, Phyllis is here.
Isn’t she dead? Persimmons—
lights—go out one by one.
哦,菲麗絲來了。
她不是死了嗎?柿子——
燈——一一熄滅。
What bird is it who
sings a song with knots of notes
curving on themselves?
是什麼鳥兒
唱著音符回轉
纏繞的歌?
The land snail with 6 feelers
I see close up.
It withdraws its face.
六觸角旱蝸牛
我近觀。它縮臉。
Perfectly still in air—
a drone? UFO?
It’s a turkey buzzard.
懸空不動——
無人機?不明飛行物?
是隻紅頭禿鷲。
A round—a wee black round—
darts bush to bush. Under the car.
Towhee? Mouse? Imp?
一個圓——小不點兒黑圓——
在灌木叢間飛奔。車下。
唧鵐?老鼠?小精靈?
Talk into the daffodil
like a yellow candlestick
telephone.
和水仙說話
像對著一架
黃色燭臺電話。
Narcissus paperwhites
in bloom—in November.
The earth is too hot.
紙白水仙
綻開——在十一月。
地球太熱。
A coyote on hind legs
at the bird bath. Water
to the brim please.
郊狼用後腿
站在鳥浴盆邊。水——
請加滿。
Corvid-19, I thought.
The black crow.
The Nevermore raven.
新冠鴉-19, 我想。
黑烏鴉。
永不复焉的渡鴉。
All so still, as if
frozen in time. Blow, wind,
move the smoke and the time.
一切如此靜止,彷彿
凍結在時間裡。吹吧,風,
吹動煙霧和時間。
I’ll take William James
as my psychotherapist.
Worry is “fearthought.”
我要威廉·詹姆斯
做我的心理治療師。
擔憂是「恐懼思維」。
I dreamt I joined the Army.
I can’t deploy.
Someone left a baby.
我夢見參軍了。
不能執行部署。有人
留下了一個嬰兒。
99% of lapis lazuli
comes from Afghanistan.
99%的青金石
來自阿富汗。
Two men home from the hunt
hand me up a rifle,
stock-end toward me.
兩個男人打獵回家
遞上一桿步槍,
槍托朝著我。
Crows break off an apple branch,
and a birch branch, and,
loaded, fly east and west.
折下蘋果枝,折下樺樹枝,
滿載,烏鴉們飛東又飛西。
My neighbor is trying to
repair a butterfly’s wing.
Live one day more.
我的鄰居正在努力
修復一隻蝴蝶的翅膀。
多活一天。
Baby lost at airport.
Baby fell 3 stories.
Baby snatched at border.
嬰兒在機場丟失。
嬰兒从三樓墜落。
嬰兒在邊境被奪。
Baby’s heartbeat—bang
bang bang—faster, louder—
bang—one last effort—born!
嬰兒的心跳——砰
砰砰——更快,更響——
砰——最後一搏——出生!
Hana Mei, the child mime:
Here. I fall down—here!
Here. I hit my head—here!
花子美,兒童啞劇演員:
這裡。我摔倒了——這裡!
這裡。我撞到頭了——這裡!
In an ecstasy of music,
Hana Mei bites
the piano keys.
在音樂的狂喜中,
花子美咬向
鋼琴鍵。
Hana Mei distinguishes—
This is “real.” This is “toy.”
This is “story.”
花子美區分——
這是「真的」。這是「玩具」。
這是「故事」。
Go-dee-rocks apologizes,
“I sorry, Bears.”
Mama Bear: “Come. Tea.”
歌-迪-蘿克絲道歉說,
「我對不起,熊們。」
熊媽媽:「來。喝茶。」
Hana Mei on solstice night,
“Moo-oo-ooon!”
It slides behind clouds.
“More? More! Mo-ore mo-oon!”
夏至之夜,花子美:
「月-亮-亮-亮!」
它溜到了雲後。
「更-多-多!月-月-月-亮!」
Hana Mei at the library,
“Books! Books! Bo-oooks!”
Everybody looks up.
花子美在圖書館,
「書!書!書-書書書!」
每個人都擡頭看。
Hands over eyes, Hana Mei,
invisible, gets close to,
spies on strangers.
手遮眼,花子美,
隱形了,靠靠近,
偷偷看,陌生人。
The alphabet needs a T.
Hana Mei toddles off
and brings me a cup.
字母表缺一個T。
花子美搖搖晃晃
給我端來一杯茶。
Baby bro, Malu Hua:
“Quiet, Hana Mei.
I concentrating.”
小弟寶寶瑪璐華:
「安靜,花子美。
我在集中精神。」
This poem is part of the portfolio “Maxine Hong Kingston: Water to the Brim.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the April 2025 issue.