白玉苦瓜
--看台北故宫博物馆的玉雕


什么苦都吃得
善烹饪的妻
却总把苦瓜我的旧爱
排在菜单之外

只好透过诗页
透过空间阻隔的玻璃
让这用时间的文火
徐徐煨成的佳肴
鲜美诱动舌尖
去裸泳
津津的记忆


Viewing the Jade Bitter Gourd at the Palace Museum in Taipei

William Marr

Despite their sweet aftertaste
my wife refuses to include bitter gourds
in her menu

Standing in front of the glass case
I watch my favorite delicacy
simmer in the slow flames of time
while the tip of my tongue
swims naked
in the saliva
of memory

2007.4

一定有人哭泣
── 悼张纯如


一定有人哭泣
在这样的黄昏
风从西边来
雨从西边来

而她就是忍不住
头一个哭泣的那个人
对著一堆堆
历史的白骨
人间的不义与缄默

而她就是一开了头
便止不住哭泣的那个人
人类的罪恶
冰峰般矗立在她四周
把她笼罩在重重阴影里
使她窒息

一定有人哭泣
在这样的黄昏
风从西边来
雨从西边来



Someone Must Be Crying
-- for Iris Chang

William Marr

someone must be crying
in such an evening
wind coming from the west
rain coming from the west

she was the first one
who could not hold her tears
facing piles and piles
of white bones in history
the injustice the dead silence

she was the one who started crying
and was unable to stop
the evil deeds of humanity
towering around her
like ice mountains
casting the heavy shadows
that eventually choked her

someone must be crying
in such an evening
wind coming from the west
rain coming from the west


2007.5

醉汉


把短短的直巷
走成一条
曲折
回荡的
万里愁肠

左一脚
十年
右一脚
十年
母亲啊我正努力
向您
走
来


THE HOMESICK DRUNKARD
William Marr

He has walked a short alley
into a tortuous
writhing intestine
of ten thousand miles

One step left
ten years
one step right
ten years
O mother
I am struggling
toward
you


2007.6

春天生日快乐


--给一位与春天同生日的友人
吃了两颗安眠药
还是兴奋得睡不着觉的
春天
在电话里孜孜为我点数
插在全世界大大小小湖泊边沿
所有冒绿火苗的□烛

我提醒她
还有我心中
一支接一支亮起的
欣欣的祝福



HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SPRING
-- for a friend whose birthday coincides with the first day of spring

William Marr


wide-awake with excitement at midnight
she recounts over the phone
the candles with flickering green flames
that surround all the lakes and ponds of the world

I remind her
not to forget the best wishes
that light up one after another
in my joyous heart


2007.7

朝阳下的树


我笑千百种笑当晨风吹过
欢欣鼓舞不克自持

用不着回头我便知道是你我爱
又一次把我生命的阴影投落地面
深情的眼光炙烫
我裸露的颈背


A TREE UNDER THE MORNING SUN
William Marr

I laugh a thousand laughs
in the morning wind
my whole body shakes and trembles
with joy

I know it's you dear
casting my shadow to the ground
your gaze burns upon my nape


2007.8

一女人


为一顶帽子
教唆男人
去扼杀七只
羽毛艳丽的孔雀

她永远快乐
永远像开屏的孔雀
在七面镜子里
寻觅自己的
尾巴




A WOMAN

William Marr


For a hat
she tempts men to kill
seven beautiful peacocks

in pride

before seven mirrors
joyfully
she chases her own tail


2007.9

中秋无月


你怎么知道
今夜
在层层乌云之上
月亮仍是传统的圆
而不是方或扁或三角或多角
或竟是变幻莫测的
不成其形的块
你甚至无法确定
它只有一个
而不是满天闪耀
如放大了的星星

当然
它也可能只是
一个人造的卫星
或虚拟世界里
一个根本不存在的
虚拟的
零

但你知道
千里外的一双凝眸
早把虚拟的零充实
混沌中飞舞的棱棱角角
早已团聚涨满
还原成一团
你熟悉的
圆


THE MOONLESS MOON FESTIVAL

William Marr


how do I know, tonight
above the heavy layers of dark clouds
the moon is a round ball, not a flat pancake
or a block of square or triangle
or some formless mass
and how can I be sure
that there is only one moon
not a cluster
of man-made satellites

and of course in today’s digital world
I can’t rule out the possibility
of the old moon being now
a virtual image

yet I know in my heart
that thousands of miles away
your gaze, penetrating the thick clouds
has filled the virtual image
with a pure brilliance
guiding my eyes
to the true moon

功夫茶


一仰而尽
三十多年的苦涩
不堪细啜

您却笑着说
好茶
该慢慢品尝

DRINKING TEA AT A FAMILY REUNION AFTER
THIRTY LONG YEARS OF SEPARATION

William Marr

Down at one gulp
how unbearable it would have been
to taste drop by drop
the cup of thirty bitter years

You smile and say to me
good tea
should be sipped
and savored

2007.11

白宫梦


一夜大雪
每一栋房子
都成了
白宫

南茜达令
电视上那个看天象的怎么说
今早能不能出门
上班？

附注：美国前总统雷根夫人南茜笃信星卜，雷根出门行事都需征询她的意见。


WHITE HOUSE DREAM
William Marr

A night's snow
turns every house
into the White House

Nancy darling
what does the astrologer say on TV
can I go to work
this morning?

2007.12

返乡

收拾行李时我对妻说
把乡愁留下吧，要超重了

在海关他们把箱子翻了又翻
用Ｘ光器照了又照
终于放我们行

坐上回家的计程车
我想这下子可轻松了
不再....

却看到乡愁同它的新夥伴
蹲在家门口
如一对石狮

HOMELAND REVISITED
William Marr

while packing I said to my wife
leave out homesickness, the luggage
is already overweight

at customs they searched our belongings
using all kinds of electronic devices
finally they let us go

in the taxi I said to myself
well what a relief
to leave behind the...
but was startled to see
new homesickness with its old pal
waiting at the door
like a pair of stone lions

2008.1