默温； 孤零零的秋天

微笑按：a dried branch of bittersweet，是我从这首诗里认识的植物。当一切成为空缺，那些物事将代替我们存在。

尽管如此，I could do anything。这是令人欣慰的。

 

那年父母去世
一位在夏天一位在秋季
相隔三个月零三天
我搬进屋子
那儿他们度过最后的岁月
房子从不归他们
而他们依然以那样方式拥有它
在那会儿
回声来自无声
在每个房间
所有那些，我们
从未能说出的
我无从可记
洋娃娃的收藏
放在瓷器柜
盘子堆在架子上
落叶桌上的蕾丝边
一束干蛇藤果
摆在厅镜前
全都依着计划等待
房子的玻璃门
仍然关闭
日子已变冷
高高的山胡桃树
那秋日的火焰
已兀自点燃
我可以做任何事情

（微笑 译）

 

A SINGLE AUTUMN
By W. S. Merwin

The year my parents died
one that summer one that fall
three months and three days apart
I moved into the house
where they had lived their last years
it had never been theirs
and was still theirs in that way
for a while
echoes in every room
without a sound
all the things that we
had never been able to say
I could not remember
doll collection
in a china cabinet
plates stacked on shelves
lace on drop-leaf tables
a dried branch of bittersweet
before a hall mirror
were all planning to wait
the glass doors of the house
remained closed
the days had turned cold
and out in the tall hickories
the blaze of autumn had begun
on its own
I could do anything