Poppies in July
七月的虞美人

Little poppies, little hell flames,
小小虞美人，小小的地狱火焰，

Do you do no harm?
你不会伤人吧？

You flicker. I cannot touch you.
你闪烁。我不会碰你。

I put my hands among the flames. Nothing burns.
我将双手放在这些火焰中。没有烧伤。

And it exhausts me to watch you
看着你，让我精疲力竭

Flickering like that, wrinkly and clear red, like the skin of a mouth.
看着你闪烁，鲜红又起皱，仿佛嘴上的皮。

A mouth just bloodied.
刚流血的一张嘴。

Little bloody skirts!
小小的血红衬裙。

There are fumes that I cannot touch.
我不能碰那些烟雾。

Where are your opiates, your nauseous capsules?
你的麻醉品、那些讨厌的胶囊在哪里？

If I could bleed, or sleep!——
但愿我会流血，或睡眠！——

If my mouth could marry a hurt like that!
但愿我的嘴与那样的伤口结合！

Or your liquors seep to me, in this glass capsule,
或许你的烈性酒渗漏给我，用这个玻璃胶囊，

Dulling and stilling.
变得呆滞，死气沉沉。

But colorless. Colorless.
但没有颜色。没有颜色。

(1962/07/20. p.203. No. 170)
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