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.