麦琪·史密斯诗《过去》《未来》
陈子弘 译
过去
过去是什么？
我们需要为过去的一切找一个词。
看嘛，我所说的都已在了，而且
是永远都在——不用从深水里捞出来，
是说最深的水里。过去是持续已久的潮水
却不会回到岸上：就连你的问题
也被带走了。看嘛，你可以看到它漂浮。
任何重物都会沉入水底而不为人知
如同残骸，鱼儿滑过银色的丝带。
过去并不遥远。我们可以站在它边上
观察海浪做着艰辛无比的拉扯与
拉开的工作。站在岸边，过去
似乎永远在继续，因为它确实在继续。我们说
那是个不同的时代，但所有时代都有不同。
就比如，这一个。再比如，这一个。
PAST
What is the past?
We needed a word for everything before.
See how my saying this is already there, and there
for good—no fishing it out of that deep water,
the deepest there is. The past is a tide that drags out
but won't return to shore: even your question
has been carried off. Look, you can see it floating.
Anything heavier settles unseen like wreckage
for a silver ribbon of fish to slip through.
The past is not all distant. We can stand at its edge,
watching the waves do the backbreaking work
of pulling, pulling away. From the shore, the past
seems to go on forever, because it does. We say
it was a different time, but all times are different.
This one, for instance. And again, this one.
未来
未来是什么？
一切尚未发生，未来
是明天，是明年，是你老去时
而且也是在我回答完之后的
一两分钟。未来不是我小时候
想的那样：没有喷气背包，没有自动步道，
更没有那些玻璃罩顶的海底城市。
未来的窍门在于它就是空的，
是你倒水之前的杯子。未来是个
等待的杯子，谁又知道呢，你换成给它
倒满牛奶。你渴了。每分钟都
载你前行，传送你，进到你
注入的空间， 我是说未来会满是你。
它比你现在迈出的一步更快一步。
在说出下句话之前，你会说什么。
FUTURE
What is the future?
Everything that hasn't happened yet, the future
is tomorrow and next year and when you're old
but also in a minute or two, when I'm through
answering. The future is nothing I imagined
as a child: no jet packs, no conveyor-belt sidewalks,
no bell-jarred cities at the bottom of the sea.
The trick of the future is that it's empty,
a cup before you pour the water. The future
is a waiting cup, and for all it knows, you'll fill it
with milk instead. You're thirsty. Every minute
carries you forward, conveys you, into a space
you fill. I mean the future will be full of you.
It's one step beyond the step you're taking now.
What you'll say next until you say it.
诗人简介：麦琪·史密斯（Maggie Smith，1977- ）诗人、自由撰稿人和编辑，她是《好骨头》（Good Bones）、《水井自言自语》（The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison）、《身体之灯》（Lamp of the Body）和全国畅销书《继续前进》（Keep Moving）的获奖作者。史密斯是 2011 年美国国家艺术基金会创意写作奖学金获得者，还多次获得俄亥俄州艺术委员会颁发的个人优秀奖、两次美国诗人学院奖、普斯卡特奖，以及可持续艺术基金会和弗吉尼亚创意艺术中心颁发的奖学金。她的作品发表于《纽约时报》、《纽约客》、《巴黎评论》、《最佳美国诗歌》等刊物。现居俄亥俄州贝克斯利。
