for swifts. I’m standing in the garden
when I hear the swifts screaming,
mates only reached at high pitch,
impatience practices shrill,
as if love itself were deaf
to a small bird rising above
the drenched earth
unnaturally soaked
in a cold wet summer
If I can see only one shadowy outline,
we are declining
if there is a pair, heady in a sudden thermal,
there is an understanding
that passion screeches
at an audible height
volume up, volume up
and climbing ever higher
on a curved wing
cutting through grey clouds
sharp as a scimitar
Helen Pletts
translated into Chinese by Ma Yongbo ⻢永波
爱不是⼀种安静的语⽓》⻢永波 译
当我站在花园⾥，
我听到⾬燕的尖叫
伴侣们只⽤⾼⾳交流
不耐烦地尖声鸣叫，
仿佛爱情本身毫不在意
⼀只⼩⻦⾼⻜于
湿透的⼤地之上
⽽⼤地，却反常地浸泡在
⼀个寒冷潮湿的夏天⾥
如果我只能看到模糊的轮廓，
那是我们正在衰退
如果有⼀对⻦⼉，陶醉在突然的热流中
那是它们领悟到
在可以听⻅的⾼度
激情才会发出尖叫
⾳量增⼤，⾳量增⼤
不断地攀升
弯曲的翅膀
穿过乌云
如弯⼑⼀般锋利
.