《沿着水流的方向回家》
去镇上赶集必须要经过老石拱桥
桥下除了东倒西歪的乞丐
还有几个瞎眼的算命先生
把手中的纸牌拍得啪啪作响
“抽牌看相啊，不准不要钱啊”
总有穿斜襟蓝卡织布衣的母亲
蹲在他们面前，听他们口水横飞
掐指神算。记得至少有一次
少年同母亲赶完集，手里
还拿着舍不得吃完的洋糕
母亲的手指在扇形牌张上犹移
然后，在中间抽出一张
桐油漆过的牌张上赫然一副红棺材
少年吓得心呯跳，抬头看母亲
再看先生想在脸上找谜底。
“再抽一张么，加五角”
再抽一张是一个小矮子正爬梯子
这次母亲是靠边角抽的
少年盯着母亲板着的脸
“棺材棺材一一升官发财
矮子爬楼梯一一步步高升
大妹子，好签，上上签
再加五角”
少年悬着的心落下来
几下把凉了的洋糕啃完
卖水豆腐的老乡挑着空担
老远打着招呼
我就是那曾经的少年
我看到少年牵着母亲的手
沿着水流的方向回家
2015年5月
Going Home Alongside The Flow Of Water
To the town in a market day you must go through the old arch bridge
under what the beggars were lying haphazardly
and a few blind fortune-teller
claping paper cards in hands loudly
“Pick a card and know your fortune, no hit no pay”
All too often there were old moms
in slanting lapelled blue homespun coat
squating before them, listening to the salvia spraying,
fingers manipulating epiphany. I remember more than once
That lad finished his market day with his mother, still in hand
a half of sweet rice cake saved for the rest of day
Mother’s fingers were lingering on the fan-shaped cards
until she picked one of them
Oiled by Chinese wood
the card showed a red coffin vividly
the lad’s heart jumped to his throat
gaze was swinging between the fortune-teller and his mother
“You can pick another one, only for 50 cents”
So there is another card
which showed a dwarf climbing a ladder
this one was at the fan’s far end
and the mother’s face was more chagrined
“The casket takes home jewels;
and the dwarf gets higher on the ladder.
Oh, my old sister, the cards means big fortune
so another 50 cent you shall give me”
The lad’s heart fell back to his chest
finished his sweet rice cake in a few bites
A tofu peddler carrying baskets that had emptied
said hello from far away
I was that lad once upon a time
I saw him holding mother’s hand
going home alongside the flow of water
AMAN, May 2015
小满诗歌作品集「沿着水流的方向回家」英文版已于2018年出版，中文版还在筹备中，敬请关注。
The English version of Zeng Zhaoman’s poetry collection, Going Home Alongside the Flow of Water, has been published in 2018. The Chinese version will be published soon.