立春有鸟鸣

 

梅开三分，雨水暂停。

我所理解的自然醒是被一阵鸟鸣

吵醒。

 

没有比这更自然的醒来——

鸟鸣像一条解冻的小溪只闻其声，

不见其形。

 

近来，远去。

远去，近来。

在两声湍急的鸟鸣之间，

 

是清澈到见底的寂静。

当我推开一条窗缝，

最新的两声鸟鸣非仅湍急而且

 

冰凉——

我所经验的春天，

从一脸冰凉的鸟鸣开始。

 

 

Birdsong At Start of Spring

by Xi She

Plum flowers are thirty-percent open, and the rain is suspended.

The natural wake-up call for me

is a burst of birdsong.

There is no better way to wake up naturally—

Birdsong works like a thawing creek, revealing only the sound,

but not itself.

Approaching, receding.

Receding, approaching.

In-between two rapid birdsongs

is a crystalline pond of silence.

When I open the window a crack,

the two newest birdsongs come in, brisk but also

 

shivery —

Spring, in my understanding,

starts with birdsong that cold-washes the face.