Hurricane

Grace Schulman

∷于琰 译析

Warnings go unheard in all this brightness.

Sun’s fire licks the poplars on a road

that will be flooded in, they say, three hours.

Abandon homes. Move on, or else you’ll spin

with the storm on radar, now an amoeba1,

sleeping, one great eye narrowed to an almond2,

now a ball of ice tossed in the air,

posed to cast out sharp needles to the ground.

The flagpole trembles on the courthouse roof.

The city gates are closing. Save yourself.

What to believe? On a flat bay, wet wind

washes me clean. Crows are crows, not prophecies.3

If so, why does the lightning zigzag closer?

Why are my hands so cold? Because the law

Flashes in white letters: Seek higher ground.

Why are the people buying Yahrzeit candles4

in glass jars, the kind that burn all night?

Because they are the only lights in stores.

Because God, who sends floods, gives us sight,

powerless unpowered5. When the marina’s

a spectral6dock, my body is the only ark

to weather high waves. In screaming darkness,

my neighbor’s voice, yesterday a growl7,

drifts softly. Now a lamp flickers, now

the storm has passed, the city gates swing open

in a deadly calm. Unpack my fears.

I cannot see the fire in the poplars.

满世界的灿烂里，警报无人理会。

烈日的火舌舔舐着路上的白杨树

据说三个小时后便会被洪水淹没。

撤离房屋。前行，不然你将随着

雷达上的风暴旋舞，现在是休眠

的小虫，蜷缩至杏仁般小的巨眼，

现在是于高空中颠簸的一个冰球，

只待向大地喷射无数尖锐的针芒。

县政府大楼的屋顶上，旗杆颤栗。

城门正在关闭。请实施自我营救。

何物可信？平坦的海湾上，湿风

把我洗净。鸦群即鸦群，非预兆。

倘若如此，为何闪电正曲行逼近？

为何我的手如此冰冷？因为律法

以煞白的字眼闪烁：请寻找高地。

为何人们正抢购装在玻璃瓶中的

周年忌辰蜡烛，整夜燃烧的那种？

因为店里只剩下这种照明用品了。

因为遣降洪流的上帝也赐予我们

光明，无力并无需驱动。当船坞

空无人烟，我的躯体是唯一可以

经受惊涛骇浪的方舟。在叫喊不绝

的黑暗中，我那昨日还在咆哮的

邻居，渐渐小了声响。灯光明灭，

现在风雨已过，城门在死一般的

寂静中旋开。卸下我的诸多恐惧。

我已无法再看见白杨树间的火光。