Poetry by Ma Lan: Dedication 献词

Dedication

We're sitting here, writing the last poem
Of my life
Our eyes now fatter, now thin
Waiting for a beauty--beauties are always past their prime
Acclimating to the rains of an unfamiliar land, a cold compelling glamour
A beauty is like a sword, hanging from a windward tree
Occasionally we confer on subjects of no importance
Some days hope comes carrying words
Riding the wind through the waves it goes into the bottom of the broad, open sea
We see our own inverted reflection, high tide occurring frequently
Overturned in one direction
The seaweeds living and dying of themselves, entangling each other
Now the last thing for example
Abandoning love, flowers blooming and falling to the ground
The heavier they are the faster they fall
Or for example poems, arriving gracefully
Ripening under the tree, enchanting, the remaining light a solo
Bordering on our bodies
The inner garden deep, leaves sundered we stoop and collect the fragments
Something predictable, writing poetry
Watching the front door, imagining
The glorious fruit of ours that slipped away.

New Haven, November 4, 1996

献词


我们坐在这里，写一生中
最后的诗
我们的眼晴时而肥胖时而瘦削
等待美人，美人总是迟暮
配合着异域的雨水，冷艳逼人
美人像剑，挂在迎风的树上
我们偶而交流无关痛痒的话题
希望有天挟词汇
乘风破浪深入广阔的海底
看见自己的倒影，高潮迭起
倾倒在一个方向
水草们自生自灭彼此缠绕
现在最后的事情比如说
放弃爱情，秀发落地
越重落得越快
比如还有诗歌，娉婷而来
在树下成熟、迷人，残灯独奏
与我们的身体接壤
体内庭园深深，叶子破碎俯身即拾
意料之中的事情，写诗
守着家门，想象
我们私奔而去的灿烂果实

１９９６年１１月４日于纽黑纹