A PEBBLE

The air is clean after a shower,
a pebble at the foot of a tree
also clean, speckled with
rain. Maybe I’ll sit
on it again, for half an hour only,
leaving time for birds, lizards, geckos,
and even squirrels to sit, and watch
the sea, as the pebble gets
rounder, the surface smooth
and glossy like an egg floating
on the fallen leaves
on the white sands. The pebble
is an egg
laid by the tree, waiting
to be hatched, I think. A branch,
tilted and hanging above,
like a young snake creeping
out of its egg,
swings its tiny legs as if
to kick the empty pebble
into the sea. To be hatched?

小圆石

小圆石

雨后空气干净。
树下的小圆石也干净地
杂了雨痕。也许我
又会在上面坐半小时，
另外时间是小鸟、蜥蜴、壁虎，
甚至松鼠也在上面习静观海。
它的确越来越圆，
石肤光滑可腻，像蛋
浮在落叶和细沙上。
——这棵树下的蛋是这棵树下的蛋，
还有待于这棵树来孵化。
——我这样想。一枚细枝斜搭上面，
像刚从蛋里爬出来的一条幼蛇？
它微微摆动的细腿，像要
把这空空的石头踢回海里？