离婚之后，新人送花

“把茎剪掉一寸以保持花朵常开”
塞在花束中的
花店的纸条如是写道
谁知道什么被切断，
还可以重新复原，绿色的伤口闭合，
会把自己缝在一起？
这并不重要。那些鲜花，红的
和白的，将会开放些许时候，然后凋枯。
你坐在没有点灯的房间中看着
花瓶穿过黑暗投射水晶的阴影。
那些鲜花的颜色是多么可爱多么伤痛。
过了一个星期，你必须要将它们扔掉。
唯一的希望是你拿出剪刀，
将每朵花分开和切断
你触摸到的尾端。你知道吗
维纳斯在每次洗澡后
都会变回处女？她把这当成爱情
的分段标记。真的，她真的这样。
这只为了取悦她的情人。可能吧，
最终她被痛苦压倒，
从此再不沐浴。这无所谓。还是感受那乐趣吧，
感觉那绿色的小脏头儿被剪去，看那花茎
在你的刃下翻新。它们在这里
只因为它们的美丽。它们在你的水晶花瓶里
燃烧。但那些花朵自身仍然只是虚妄，
只是光线的折射，一两个星期，
即被抛弃。
一天天，水线下降，那红的
那白的脑袋耷拉下来，花茎黢黑。
这无所谓。即使切开的花茎也能痊愈。
但是如果它能痊愈，那曾经的痛又有什么意义？
“有些事会地久天长”，花店的纸条上如是写道。快乐，
一个神说。羞愧，另一个神说。
他们把这些花叫“维纳斯的脑袋”。
过一两个星期，你会丢掉这张纸条，
你必须要给花店打个电话。
带着同情，你会想他说什么。
他可能会说：“送花的人要对你示爱”。这不重要，
你已经不再沐浴。你独自
坐在水晶花瓶前，花瓶的反射影像穿过黑暗
把你撕成一片片。你看着
花瓶里苍白的皮肤，凋枯。
你生出花瓣，一寸又一寸，
红和白，旋覆着，在一起。

作者/ [美国] 佩斯利·雷克戴尔
翻译 / 光诸

Flowers from a New Love after the Divorce

Cut back the stems an inch to keep in bloom.
So instructs the florist’s note
enclosed inside the flowers.
Who knew what was cut
could heal again, the green wounds close,
stitching themselves together?
It doesn’t matter. The flowers, red
and white, will bloom awhile, then wither.
You sit in an unlit room and watch
the vase throw crystal shadows through the dark.
The flowers’ colors are so lovely they’re painful.
In a week, you’ll have to throw them out.
It’s only hope that makes you take out scissors,
separate each bloom and cut
where you last measured. Did you know
Venus was said to turn into a virgin
each time she bathed? She did it
as a mark of love. She did it
so as to please her lovers. Perhaps,
overwhelmed by pain,
she eventually stopped bathing
altogether. It doesn’t matter. It’s a pleasure
to feel the green nubs stripped, watch the stems
refresh under your blade. They’re here
because they’re beautiful. They glow
inside your crystal vase. And yet
the flowers by themselves are nothing:
only a refraction of color that,
in a week or two, will be thrown out.
Day by day, the water lowers. The red-
and-white heads droop, blacken at the stems.
It doesn’t matter. Even cut stems heal.
But what is the point of pain if it heals?
Some things should last forever, instructs
the florist’s note. Pleasure,
says one god. Shame, says another.
Venus heads, they call these flowers.
In a week or two, you’ll lose the note,
have to call the florist up.
With sympathy, you’ll think he says.
Perhaps: With love. It doesn’t matter.
You’ve stopped bathing. Alone,
you sit before the crystal
vase refracting you in pieces
through the dark. You watch
the pale skin bloom inside it, wither.
You petal, inch by inch.
You turn red and white together.

PAISLEY REKDAL

今夜，大家谈论的主题就是“离婚”。虽然名人聚光灯下的身影远远超出常人的尺寸，但他们仍然只是血肉之躯。爱的凋零，亲情的切割，总是痛苦的。这伤有时可以 愈合，有时不可以。事情发得得突然，当事人和旁观者的感情还被未断的缘份系在半空，没有落定。但是伤感却是所有人心头覆满的落花。就让我们用一首伤感，美 丽，表面决绝其实尘埃未落的诗来记念这个夜晚吧。

荐诗 / 光诸
2013/09/13