埃德蒙顿/斯苔特勒/埃德蒙顿

想象—
度过情人节
从乡村拿来牛的肋肉：
那就是我们驶离时我们的儿子叫喊的。
我想，浪漫就是你寻找的地方。
正值屠户的男孩从冷库推来了
装满坚硬包裹的手推车，
我看着墙上的那张纸，
一个屠宰场的营业执照。
当我第一次在书中看到“屠宰场”
我认为这是世界上最美丽的
词儿。浪漫就是你如何听到它。
一次我曾确信鹿肉
肯定是世上最好吃的肉，
只从听到的那词儿推断。这意味着
同少女玛利亚在舍伍德森林中打猎
而后是宴会和音乐。
你和我能用汉堡包办一个宴会。
浪漫就是你如何品尝它。
我们在白鹅饭店
与你的亲戚共进午餐，
那里情人节意味着墙上贴的纸心，
每张桌上一朵玫瑰。你兄弟，
举起那冷冻生物，
蒙我，说如果是情人节我们男人
最好食用牡蛎。我吃了，而去城市的
路上我一直想着玫瑰：
那古董店名叫白玫瑰
使我想起老字号，
五朵玫瑰面粉和四朵玫瑰威士忌，
这酵母的小小奇迹，
浪漫就是你如何看见它。
刚好进城之前，我们驶过
幸运马蹄铁农场，
一个最吉利的名字，
而我的心在由牡蛎导致的
神志昏迷中赛跑，
或许丘比特用个箭头轻推我的肋骨。
浪漫就是你如何感觉它。

The Feast Of St. Valentine
Edmonton/Stettler/Edmonton
Imagine-
spending Valentine's Day
fetching a side of beef from the country:
that's what our son called out as we drove away.
Romance is where you find it, I thought.
While the butcher's boy fetched the hand truck
full of rock-hard packages from the freezer,
I looked over the paper on the wall,
the Licence to Operate an Abattoir.
When I first saw abattoir in a book
I thought it was the most beautiful word
in the world. Romance is how you hear it.
Once I was sure that venison
must be the best meat in the world,
just from the sound of it. It meant
hunting in Sherwood Forest with Maid Marian
and the feasting and music afterward.
You and I can make a feast with hamburger.
Romance is how you taste it.
We had lunch with your relatives
in the White Goose Restaurant,
where Valentine's meant paper hearts on the walls,
a rose on each table. Your brother,
who raised that frozen critter,
kidded me, saying we men had better have oysters
if it's Valentine's day. I did, and all the way
to the city I thought of roses:
the antique shop called The White Rose
made me remember the old brands,
Five Roses Flour and Four Roses Whisky,
the little miracles of yeast.
Romance is where you see it.
Just before the city, we drove by
The Lucky Horseshoe Ranch,
a most auspicious name,
and my heart raced in a delirium
brought on by the oysters,
or Cupid nudging me in the ribs with an arrow.
Romance is how you feel it.

---By Bert Almon