Sleep Song
《眠歌》
By Ethel Rackin
作者:艾瑟爾·萊金
翻譯:忒綠
I want to remember the picture
我想記住這個圖像
Wander into the picture
走進這個圖像
Thread the threads of sheep in the picture
用線連起圖像裏綿羊的毛纖
If this were allegory you would come to love me
如果這是寓言你會愛上我
You would see that sheep are good (though greasy)
你會看到綿羊們很愜意(盡管油膩)
You would not need drinking
你不需要喝酒
You would not need pills for your longing
你不需要藥物撫慰你的渴求
If this were a picture we would live together in the river
如果這是一個圖像我們會一起生活在河裏
Turtles would welcome us in the wide and deep river
烏龜會在寬闊深處的河水中歡迎我們
We cannot swim because it is dark and we are under water
我們不能遊泳因為它是黑暗的並且我們在水下
The sheep are marvelous and have begun to take pictures
這些綿羊真了不起已經開始拍照
We can step inside and become something else entirely
我們可以走進去並完全變成其他的東西
Like a picture of sheep
像一張綿羊的照片
—- Rackin, an assistant professor at Bucks, is the author of The Forever Notes, forthcoming this fall in Parlor Press’ Free Verse Editions series. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Colorado Review, Court Green, Poetry East, Volt, and in many other journals. She earned her MFA from Bard College and her PhD in English Literature from Princeton.