There is a moment before a shape

那种时刻，在一个形状

hardens, a color sets.

变硬、上色之前。

Before the fixative or heat of   kiln.

在窑的固化或加热之前。

The letter might still be taken

这封信也许仍从信箱里

from the mailbox.

被取走。

The hand held back by the elbow,

手被胳膊肘所撑持。

the word kept between the larynx pulse

词在喉头的搏动和房间空气

and the amplifying drum-skin of the room’s air.

不断增强的皮鼓声之间。

The thorax of an ant is not as narrow.

一只蚂蚁的胸腔并不比蚂蚁本身细窄。

The green coat on old copper weighs more.

老铜上的绿色外套更厚重。

Yet something slips through it —

但还是会有某种东西从中溜走——

looks around,

看一看四周。

sets out in the new direction, for other lands.

朝向新的方向，为另外的土地。

Not into exile, not into hope. Simply changed.

不是进入流亡，也不抱有希望，只是改变。

As a sandy track-rut changes when called a Silk Road:

正如一条曾被称为丝绸之路的沙石车辙的变化：

it cannot be after turned back from.

在那之后它不能回头。