第二十四章
歐姬芙的家園
——獻給二十世紀最偉大的美國女畫家
或許這是最寂寞的家園
離開塵世是那樣的遙遠
風吹過荒原的低處，告訴我們
隻有一個人在這裏等待
這是離上帝最近的高地
否則就不會聽見
那天籟般的聲音最終變成色彩
從容地穿過那純潔的世界
你的手是神奇的語言
牛骨和石頭被裝飾成一道黑門
誰知道在你臨終的時候
曼陀羅的歎息是如此沉重
歐姬芙，一個夢的化身
你的虛無和神秘都是至高無上的
因為現實的存在，從來就沒有證明過
一個女人生命的全部！
O’KEEFE’S HOMELAND
—To America’s greatest female painter of the 20th Century
Perhaps this is the loneliest homeland
Being so very far from mundane things
Wind blowing across wasteland hollows tells us
Only one person could be waiting here
This high country is closest to God
Or else you would never have heard
Those heavenly pan pipes which turned to colors
As they passed unimpeded through this pure realm
Your hands held a marvelous language
That opened a gate in stone and skull omaments
Who would think, when your hour of passing came
The mandrake root would sigh so heavily?
Your emptiness and mystery were the loftiest
Never had existing reality offered such evidence of everything a woman's life could be
棗獻給納爾遜·曼德拉
站在時間的岸邊
站在一個屬於精神的高地
我在回望二十世紀
此時我沒有眼淚
歡樂和痛苦都變得陌生
我好像站在另一個空間
在審視人類一段奇特的曆史
其實這一百年
戰爭與和平從未離開過我們