疫期笔记｜杰西·鲍尔：回来，回来（诗）

【编者按】：疫情还在世界蔓延。数亿人隔离在家，尽管在狭小的空间里每日焦虑，但都期待着明天会好起来。在这些人中，作家可能天然适应这几十天甚至数月的禁足生活，他们的日常就是把自己关在房间写作。在隔离时期，他们也在记录着这段历史，这段人类日常生活的例外日子。从世界阅读日这一天起，澎湃新闻与中信出版·大方合作，邀请世界各地的知名作家，刊发他们的“疫期笔记”，一段来自“隔离时期的作家问候”。

4月22日，隔离中的美国诗人、作家杰西·鲍尔给编辑发来了一首小诗，信中说，“一首悲伤又荒诞的诗，给这个悲伤又荒诞的世界。”

我的哥哥快被溺死了。

我去了那没有湖的地方并游到水底。

他人不在那里。

我说，爬我背上来。他上来了，

可他的个头实在太大。

整个身子只能像一枚戒指戴在我指上。

哦，夜已经很深，而且太阳

照耀，照耀，照耀着，多么难得。

只是没人在活着的时候见到它。

我的哥哥年岁已大。我那时还没出生。

那天平静得很，而且风一直在大喊！

它什么也没说：任何人都会这么说。

我捂住我的双耳好让自己听见。

哦，那不是风。那些日子里

婴儿出生在坟墓中，老人埋葬在病床上。

可歌声仍然传来，传来

到我双耳不在的地方，

哦，永远不会丢下我们的你们，你们所有人

回来，回来

My brother was drowning. I went

to where there was no lake

and swam to the bottom. He wasn't there.

I said, climb on my back. He got on,

but he was much too big. All of him

could only fit

on my finger like a ring.

Oh it was long into the night and the sun

shone, shone, shone, a real blessing.

Only there was no one alive to see it.

My brother was very old. I

hadn't yet been born. The day was

perfectly still, and the wind was

crying!

It said nothing: what anyone would say. I

covered my ears so I could hear.

Oh there was no wind. These were the days

when babies were born

in graves, old men buried in hospital beds.

Still the song came in, came in

where my ears weren't,

O you who will never leave us, all you,

Come back, Come back.