The Wooden Horse of Greece

Before the parting I can drink my tears one more time
tonight, as the boundless dusk is diluted in the crowd.
In the brick labyrinth of Minos I lost
my path-thread, my princess-thread.
The circle by the Aegean, drawn from Helen until now,
has yet to close.

Before the apology I can stop my ears one more time,
when in the countless reed-beds their voices rise—
the king’s voice: are the donkey’s ears
again too sensitive? Is the golden touch
again too much a dream? They debate
their Plato, and I am silent once more.

Before I fall I can commit to a lie one more time.
That even in the scores of Apollo and Cupid, this piece is absent—
“When what was popular was young
I was old; when it laughed I wept.
When it was time to have the courage to love
I hated you.”

Original Poem:

希腊木马

在离别之前我还可以饮一次我的泪

当今夜，无边的暮色稀释于人海

在米诺斯的砖瓦迷宫中我失去了

我寻路的线，我公主的线。

爱琴海畔的圆圈从海伦画到今天

尚未形成闭环

在道歉之前我还可以闭一次我的耳

当无数芦苇荡里响起他们的声音

响起国王的声音——驴的耳朵

是否又太过敏感？——金的触摸

是否又太过梦幻？他们辩着

他们的柏拉图，我又沉默

在坠毁之前我还可以蛮着强一次词

阿波罗和丘比特的歌谱中也没有此篇——

“当流行年轻的时候

我老了；当流行笑的时候我哭了。

当本该有勇气爱的时候

我恨你。”