RING-NECKED PHEASANT
By Catherine Greenwood
Thudding of hooves
in the damp leafy forest,
a terrible squealing
of boars. Thrown from
her hunter, the king’s
young wife broke her neck
on the trunk of an oak.
Acorns fell like tears.
Years went by and without
his knowledge the king’s
loneliness made a pact
with the unspoken
things dwelling beneath
the soil. Loosestrife,
plentiful cities sprang up
in the untilled fields.
Now the king eyes
the milliners’ guild bill
with approval. His new
bride will be sporting
the gold-dipped tail
plumes of four and twenty
pheasant, the bare tables
of the peasantry plucked
carcasses for the feast.
On the day, a solemn
chill weather blows in
with the priests and during
the ceremony brushes
the penance like crumbs
from the groom’s tight
lips. The bride crushes
the posy of jonquils
in her fist. Her quill
caplet lifts like a wing
in the breeze, ghostly gears
flap its pinions. Someone
waves farewell. Tears, a rain
of feathery clapping
as she receives the kiss.
环颈雉
--凯瑟琳．格林伍德
震震蹄声
在潮湿密叶的森林中
一阵惊怖的野猪尖叫。
她从狩猎的国王怀中抛落
年轻的妻子跌断颈子
在一橡树干上，
橡实跌落如泪
年来年去
在国王不知情下
他的孤寂与那些没曾说出的事
(他们匿居地下)
订了盟约。千屈草
丰足的城市曾经生起
在未耘的田野
现在国王看着帽纱商的账目
心喜悦意。他新的
新娘子将盛装，以镶金的尾羽
取自四又二十只雉，
那些赤裸空无的桌面上
乡农们曾于其上拔去羽毛
为国王的宴飨清理雉鸡尸身
婚典那日，一股寒冷肃风
伴著教士们吹来
且在大礼中扫去悔愆
一如蛋糕碎屑，自新郎紧闭的嘴唇
新娘把一束水仙花压碎在她拳中
她羽织的头纱扬起如翅
在微风中，鬼灵的物事
吹动他们的属下。某人
挥手道别。泪水似雨
似羽的拍击
当她承受著亲吻
BLUE PUMPS
by Catherine Greenwood
I
The new pumps the man who waves at strangers
wears are the style favoured by England’s
Queen Mother, royal blue and stout
of heel.
II
The man models his new shoes
down the sidewalk’s cement runway.
He is wearing patched cast-off pants cinched with a safety pin,
accessorizing this season’s soiled acrilon sweater.
Blue pumps provide an elegant foundation.
In fashion one starts at the bottom
and works up.
III
Despite their sturdiness
the blue pumps are not earthquake proof.
IV
The world is armed with a billion
pairs of identical
blue pumps, battalions of them marching
from assembly lines in China.
Of course, they come in different sizes,
and some of the people
wearing them have two left feet
while others are missing
one leg.
V
Two square barges pass in a channel.
The blue pumps ferry their wearer through a long puddle.
VI
If red shoes make you
dance, do blue ones make you
fly? The crazy man
directs communications between
the sky and his blue shoes.
VII
Innocents, brand new
shoes, their shiny leather
skins unscuffed.
They are not suede, but
because they are blue,
don’t step on them.
蓝色高跟鞋
--凯瑟琳．格林伍德
I
他向陌生人挥着手
穿着那双新厚底鞋，其风格
正得大英母后皇宠，宝蓝
而硬底
II
男人展示他的新鞋
走下人行道上水泥的伸展台
他正穿着补绽的针织长裤，用根安全针结上
配饰这一季沾污了的合成纤维毛衣
蓝厚底鞋提供一高雅的基础
若说时装，总是始于底部
再往上使劲
III
尽管他们扎实
蓝厚底鞋并不防地震
IV
这世界已经武装
以百亿双完全相同的蓝厚底鞋
一旅一旅的他们挺进
自中国的组装生产线
当然，他们来以不同尺寸
并且有些穿他们的人们
有两只左足
而其他人则失去一足
V
两艘方形货运平底船在一渠道交错
蓝厚底鞋们载渡他们的穿者经过一长长的水滩
VI
如果红鞋让你起舞
那么蓝的将让你
飞吗？那个疯子
指挥著天空和他的蓝鞋
之间的联系沟通
VII
纯真，崭新的
鞋子，他们光亮的皮革
皮肤还未被磨锉
他们并非麂皮，但是
因为他们是蓝的
可别踩他们
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