有天晚上我去陪伴時鐘。
午夜後它發出喧鬧的嘀嗒
就像它難得壹見的害怕。
像經過墓地吹口哨加快步伐，
我說明壹下。
不管怎樣，我告訴它我理解啦。
曾幾何時這樣的時鐘
在每家美國的廚房都有。
現在工廠的窗戶均已破敗。
值夜班的老人都在卡戎的船中。
我對時鐘說，妳停擺的那天，
他們備用的小齒輪
將滾向各個
難以找尋的地方。
想想看，我忘記了給鐘上發條。
在黑暗中我們醒了。
我說這個城市該有多寂寥。
妻子應答說就像停滯的鐘表。
墻上的祖母啊，
我聽到妳童年時的雪在飄
在開始落下。
英文原詩
One night I went to keep the clock company.
It had a loud tick after midnight
As if it were uncommonly afraid.
It's like whistling past a graveyard,
I explained.
In any case, I told him I understood.
Once there were clocks like that
In every kitchen in America.
Now the factory's windows are all broken.
The old men on night shift are in Charon's boat.
The day you stop, I said to the clock,
The little wheels they keep in reserve
Will have rolled away
Into many hard-too-find places.
Just thinking about it, I forgot to wind the clock.
We woke up in the dark.
How quiet the city is, I said.
Like the clocks of the dead, my wife replied.
Grandmother on the wall,
I heard the snows of your childhood
Begin to fall.