2018年冬天,去纽约上州的卡茨基尔山脉(Catskill Mountains)的几个滑雪场滑雪。住在当地的小木屋,每日开车往返雪山的路上,看到山脚和山上不少废弃的度假屋,有的甚至是很大的豪宅,都已经被废弃,有些都已经坍塌。触目感还是很impressive的。一时感慨,即兴写下这首英文诗《Doom’s Odious Harbinger》。关于纽约上州度假屋兴盛和衰落的原因,在诗后也有简单记述。
Dusk descends sooner still, darkening
suddenly as I drive back home,
and by the day’s swift end, I realize
the summer of yesterday is gone.
Opposing headlights loom – ethereal –
illuminating in the abyss an enigmatic omen:
a lifeless raccoon strewn along the roadside,
long passed its perilous pain and struggle;
some fallen leaves waltzing in the wind,
like a passionless elegy being sung.
Along the road and above on the hillside,
pass abandoned sojourn cabins from time to time,
some in ruins, collapsed and dilapidated,
but a haunting aura flickers the glory of their pasts.