LEPIDOPTERIST

Poet: Antony Dunn

He’d like to unfold her from that lab-coat
and see what kind of creature she’d become;

chalk up a finger on a butterfly-wing
and lay out his great design on white silk –

a dress for her to wear weightlessness in;
or dust his fingerprints across her skin

in kohl and carmine; or see, as she moves
through the store-room, the cases fly open

and every last butterfly unhook itself
and throw itself into the air, and stay.

He’d like the creature cocooned in his chest
to stop turning over – to burst from his mouth

on unspeakable wings. He’d like to say something
that she’d understand, but can’t pin it down.


蝴蝶专家

安东尼(Antony Dunn) 原作
杨炼、有玲 翻译

他想解开她的白大褂
看她能变成什么;

一根手指划过蝶翼
白绸上他辉煌的设计——

一条无重的裙子;擦光
她裹着黑粉和红色的皮肤上

他的指纹;看,她移行
横过店堂,盒子弹开

每一只蝴蝶脱钩而
抛自己于空中,而悬定。

他想让胸中结茧的东西
停止翻滚——自他口中爆开

难言的翅膀。他想说些什么
她能懂,却抓不住。