她走進我房間帶着一件禮物：
一片綠葉，一隻蟬的外皮
粘附着，完美的死亡形象：
一個蓬鬆丁幾質的易碎恐怖之物

我緊攥着手直到頭腦清楚。

必需多少我才會重新
忘記蟬正於某處發出
尖利的喧囂，以一張新皮—
在一片她帶給我的綠葉上

拋棄一個完美的死亡形象

Bestowal

She comes into my room with a gift:
a green leaf, the husk of a cicada
clinging to it, the perfect image of death:
a crisp horror of puffy chitin

I clench my hands until my head clears.

How much I must need renewal
to forget that the cicada is making
brittle music somewhere in a new skin—
on a green leaf she has brought me

a perfect image of death cast aside.

---Bert Almon