十四行诗
爱丽丝·诺特利
已故的格蕾西·艾伦曾是火爆的女丑角演员,
“丑”名昭著光耀世人。
她被夫君乔治·伯恩斯称为“悖理的逻辑”,
让我们大笑时觉得自己的语法自带光环。
伯恩斯通常是她不显眼的捧哏,
他还会带人组装布景,收集笑话编写戏文。
他们的婚姻已经达到普通魔法的极限,
连理三十八年,直到艾伦亡故把他们拆散。
在五十岁的当口艾伦心脏出了状况。
每当她感觉到那颗奇怪的悸动的心,
他都会给她一粒药片,然后两人拥抱,
直到那颗心停止乱跳。很多次,很多药。
就像魔法曾经灌注,充满,最终会腾出空间,
一天艾伦的心脏狂跳,
绞痛然后彻底停转。伯恩斯无法相信这一切,
他对医生说:“但是我还剩下一些药片没有用完。”
Sonnet
BY ALICE NOTLEY
The late Gracie Allen was a very lucid comedienne,
Especially in the way that lucid means shining and bright.
What her husband George Burns called her illogical logic
Made a halo around our syntax and ourselves as we laughed.
George Burns most often was her artful inconspicuous straight man.
He could move people about stage, construct skits and scenes, write
And gather jokes. They were married as long as ordinary magic
Would allow, thirty-eight years, until Gracie Allen's death.
In her fifties Gracie Allen developed a heart condition.
She would call George Burns when her heart felt funny and fluttered
He'd give her a pill and they'd hold each other till the palpitation
Stopped—just a few minutes, many times and pills. As magic fills
Then fulfilled must leave a space, one day Gracie Allen's
heart fluttered
And hurt and stopped. George Burns said unbelievingly to the doctor,
"But I still have some of the pills."