Let Them Not Say

by JANE HIRSHFIELD

Let them not say: we did not see it.
We saw.

Let them not say: we did not hear it.
We heard.

Let them not say: they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.

Let them not say: it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.

Let them not say: they did nothing.
We did not-enough.

Let them say, as they must say something:

A kerosene beauty.
It burned.

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned.

別讓他們說

簡·赫斯菲爾德／Jane Hirshfield

別讓他們說：我們視而不見。
我們親眼所見。

別讓他們說：我們充耳不聞。
我們親耳聽聞。

別讓他們說：那些人沒嘗過那滋味。
我們曾嚥下，曾發抖。

別讓他們說：一切不曾言明，不曾書寫。
我們曾開口，
曾用手和詞見證。

別讓他們說：那些人無能為力。
我們還沒有盡力。

而他們必將開口說話，讓他們說：

一種燈油之美
曾一度燃燒。

讓他們說我們曾以之取暖，
曾藉著那光亮閱讀，讚美，
它燃燒過。

史春波 譯／trans. Diana Shi