By Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew 有一天你終於知道
What you had to do, and began, 你該做什麼了 而且開始去做
Though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice— 縱然你身旁的聲音不斷大喊著他們的糟糕建議
Though the whole house
began to tremble 縱然全屋子都開始顫抖
And you felt the old tug
at your ankles 而且你感覺到舊的力量拖著你的腳踝
“Mend my life!” “導正我的人生”
each voice cried. 每個聲音如此吶喊著
But you didn’t stop. 但你沒有停下
You knew what you had to do, 你知道你必須做什麼
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations, 就算風用它僵硬的手指刺探著根基
though their melancholy
was terrible. 就算他們的悲痛無比巨大
It was already late 天色已晚
enough, and a wide night, 荒涼的夜
and the road full of fallen
ranches and stones 路上佈滿了掉落的樹枝與石頭
But little by little, 但一點一滴地
as you left their voices behind, 當你把他們的聲音拋在身後
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds, 星星逐漸從雲層中閃爍出光芒
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own, 而你慢慢認出有一個屬於你的,新的聲音
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world, 陪伴著你一步步深入世界
determined to do
the only thing you could do— 決心做唯一一件你能做的事
determined to save
the only life you could save 決心拯救唯一一個你能救的生命
