Her Long Illness
Daybreak until nightfall，
he sat by his wife at the hospital
while chemotherapy dripped
through the catheter into her heart.
He drank coffee and read
the Globe.He paced; he worked
on poems; he rubbed her back
and read aloud.Overcome with dread,
they wept and affirmed
their love for each other, witlessly,
over and over again.
When it snowed one morning Jane gazed
at the darkness blurred
with flakes. They pushed the IV pump
which she called Igor
slowly past the nurses' pods, as far
as the outside door
so that she could smell the snowy air.
（Donald Hall）
她久病不起
在医院，从黎明到黄昏，
他坐在妻子旁边
同时，化疗点滴
通过导管进入她的心脏。
他喝咖啡，阅读
《环球》杂志。他踱步，他构思
诗歌；他揉揉她的背
大声朗读。慑于恐惧，
他们哭着诉说
他们对彼此的爱，笨拙地
说了一遍又一遍。
一天早晨，下雪了，简凝视着
黑暗中模模糊糊的
雪花。他们拿掉她称之为“科学小怪蛋”的
静脉注射泵
他们小心地溜过护士房间，去到户外
尽可能远的地方
这样，她就能闻到雪的味道了。
（Donald Hall，xmj 译）
《雪中的红鸟》，Adolf Dehn.
