《少女》
作者:辛波斯卡
我——一名少女?
如果她此时,此地,忽然站我面前,
我该否将她视如亲人
哪怕 她于我 陌生又遥远?
淌下泪滴 亲吻她的额头
只因为
我们同一天降生?
我们如此不同
仅仅是身型,颅骨,还有眼窝
看上去相似
她的双眸似乎要大一些
睫毛更长,个头也更高
整个身体
裹在光滑无瑕的肌肤里
是的,亲人朋友仍同我们相连,
在她的世界,他们几乎全都健在
而我的世界里
差不多无一尚存
我们之间千差万别,
说的,想的,截然不同
她近乎于无知
顽固 却不会被轻易责备
我懂得的更多—
但 无一肯定
她向我展示诗稿
字迹工整又认真
而我 已多年不这样
阅读着这些诗歌
那首,可以再简练点
再修改几个地方
或许会更好
其余的 则不甚乐观
交谈 磕磕绊绊
她腕上糟糕的手表
时间一如既往 廉价又紊乱
在我这儿 愈发珍贵而精准
分别 并无特别
例行的微笑 没有伤感
只是当她消失
匆匆留下的围巾
一条纯羊毛围巾
彩色的条纹
是我们的母亲
为她编织
而我 保留至今。
原诗:
Teenager
Me — a teenager?
If she suddenly stood, here, now, before me,
would I need to treat her as near and dear,
although she’s strange to me, and distant?
Shed a tear, kiss her forehead
for the simple reason
that we share a birthdate?
So many dissimilarities between us
that only the bones are likely still the same,
the cranial vault, the eye sockets.
Since her eyes seem a little larger,
her eyelashes are longer, she’s taller
and the whole body is closely sheathed
in smooth, unblemished skin.
Relatives and friends still link us, it is true,
but in her world almost all are living,
while in mine almost no one survives
from that shared circle.
We differ so profoundly,
talk and think about completely different things.
She knows next to nothing —
but with a doggedness deserving better causes.
I know much more —
but nothing for sure.
She shows me poems,
written in a clear and careful script
that I haven’t used for years.
I read the poems, read them.
Well, maybe that one
if it were shorter
and fixed in a couple of places.
The rest do not bode well.
The conversation stumbles.
On her pathetic watch.
Time is still cheap and unsteady.
On mine it’s far more precious and precise.
Nothing in parting, a fixed smile and no emotion.
Only when she vanishes,
leaving her scarf in her haste.
A scarf of genuine wool,
in colored stripes
crocheted for her
by our mother.
I’ve still got it.