Some Years in the History of Love Poetry

Some Years in the History of Love Poetry
Michelle Boisseau

Two streams careened（倾斜） from mountains
aimlessly driven, like all lovers, searching
basin and rill（小溪，小河） , hurrying but hardly giving
the other a thought.

                              You forded deserts
where mud banks crackled（有裂痕的） and eased.
I crossed granite¹（花岗岩，坚毅） depths where trout²（鲑鱼）
shifted, intent as fuses. Senso unico,

an endless aria³（咏叹调，独唱曲） of forward
and a thousand dialects（方言） to try—
the clatter⁴（哗啦声） of palm leaves or a clutch
of apples rolled across a table.

                                           Now
birds were passing between us carrying
warbles（鸟鸣） and tufted（成蔟状的） seeds. Beneath
a spread of stars we found

                                      ourselves side by side,
two fluences shading into each other
while a score of fingers scored
the delta's tranquil⁵（安静的，平静的） riot.