问我  　

什么时候当河水成了冰，问问我
犯了些什么错误。问问是否
我所做的就是我的人生。别的人
按照他们缓慢的方式进入了
我的思绪，有些人试图帮助
或伤害：问问我他们最强烈的
爱或恨有什么不同的结果

你说什么，我都会倾听。
你和我可以转身，打量
那静静的河水，等待。我们知道
水流就在那儿，潜藏着：而且
数英里之外有水的来来往往
守着我们眼前的这片宁静
河水所说的，正是我的心声。

作者 / [美国]威廉·斯塔福德
翻译 / 刘锋

Ask Me  　

Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.

William Stafford