folding the table cloth after dinner
so carefully,
as if it were the flag
of a country that no longer existed,
but once ruled the world.
(Love in The Ruins <an excerpt>,Jim Moore)
我记得我母亲去世之前,
她非常小心地
把晚餐后的桌布叠起来,
仿佛那是一面旗,
这面旗属于一个不复存在的国家,
这个国家曾经统治过全世界。
by Matthew Haydn Jeanes.