Waving Good-Bye by Gerald Stern

我想知道在我们有声音之前
在我们赤手之前，在我们
有意识通过动作移动之前
它的样子
眼泪帮助我们客服我们的感情，
所以我驾车载我女儿穿过白雪去会她的朋友
把它和行李箱一起塞进车里拥抱她
像一个动物那样，把我额头贴到她的额头上，
不停地徘徊，呻吟，摸着她的面颊，
转头追着她们如一个动物一样，
无助地看着她们碾过车辙，
她微笑的脸，她的小手越过巨大的枕头
和挂衣架就看不见了
接着她们转弯进入空荡荡的高速路。
I wanted to know what it was like before we
had voices and before we had bare fingers and before we
had minds to move us through our actions
and tears to help us over our feelings,
so I drove my daughter through the snow to meet her friend
and filled her car with suitcases and hugged her
as an animal would, pressing my forehead against her,
walking in circles, moaning, touching her cheek,
and turned my head after them as an animal would,
watching helplessly as they drove over the ruts,
her smiling face and her small hand just visible
over the giant pillows and coat hangers
as they made their turn into the empty highway.
“Waving Good-Bye” by Gerald Stern from This Time. © Norton, 1998. Reprinted with permission