七月五号发刊的《纽约人》刊登了乔莉.格雷厄姆（Jorie Graham）写于六月二十八号的诗 《为什么》 （Why)。 原诗附在最后。
乔莉.格雷厄姆的这首诗用了跨行（enjambment), 而不是结句行（end-stopped), 即诗行不对应语法的句子，所以我这里是意译，即把这首诗按理解断句，加标点符号，并翻译。
我理解诗的大意是，一位母亲带了自己的正好到了不断问“为什么”的年纪的孩子在花园里玩。孩子就一个杜鹃花苞和其他的事问很多问题。 母亲答不出。 孩子开始自己思考答案，开始有自己的思想，有独立意识。
下雨了，母亲拉着孩子奔走躲雨。孩子在长大，但他仍然还是孩子，他没有扔掉自己找到的一块玫瑰色石子，而是放进自己的口袋...... 有新的美丽要去探索，旧的美丽却仍值得保存。
《Why》
《为什么》
You ask me again: “Why”, putting your tiny hand on the not yet unsheathed bud on the rhododendron.
你一面把小手放在还紧闭着的杜鹃花苞上，一面再次问我：“为什么？”
And I see I need to be sky; I need to be soil. There are no words for why that I can find fast enough.
我明白，非得知天知地才回答得出，我搜肠刮肚一下子也回答不了那么多为什么。
“Why", you say at the foot of the cherry's wide blossomfall. “Is it dead now? Why did it let go?”
“为什么？”你对着樱桃树下的遍地落花说，“这树已经死了吗？ 为什么花都不要了啊？”
“Why” tossed out into what appears to be silence.
连串的为什么问了出来，回应似乎只有沉默。
When I say let's run, the rain is starting, "Why are we lost? Why did we just leave where we just were? Why is everything so far behind now as we go on?”
我说“咱们快跑”的时候，雨都已经下起来了。
“我们为什么迷路了？”
“我们为什么要离开我们刚才在的那个地方？”
“为什么我们越往前走，一切就都落在后面越远？”
I see you think when you reach me again to ask why, when I say, “Are you coming now”, & you say, “No, I want to stay, I want things to stay, I do not want to come away from things.”
我看到，当你又来到我身旁问为什么的时候，你在思考。我说，“你快跟上。” 你说，“不，我要待在这儿，我要所有一切都原地不动，我不想和它们分别。” 说这些时你都在思考。
What is this we are entering? Me taking yr hand now to speed our going as fast as we can in this suddenly hard rain, yr hand not letting go of the rose pebble u found.
我们这是进到哪里来啦？ 雨突然下大了，为了加快速度，我便拉起你的手，你手里仍然攥着那块你找到的玫瑰色石子不放。
Feeling the first itching of personal luck as you now slowly pocket it, thinking you have taken with you a piece of what u could not leave behind.
你一面头一回体验个人运气带来的刺激，一面慢慢把石子放进口袋，觉得你这就是随身带走了自己不舍得离开的东西的一部分。
It is why we went there and left there.
这就是我们为什么去了那里又离开那里。
It is your why.
这就是对你的为什么的回答。
--------------------------------------
原作：
《Why》
you ask me
again—why
putting your tiny hand on
the not yet
unsheathed
bud on the
rhododendron
and I see
I need to be sky
I need to be soil
there are no words
for why that I
can find fast
enough, why
you say at
the foot of the cherry’s wide
blossomfall
is it dead now why
did it let go, why,
tossed out
into what appears
to be silence
when I say
let’s run the
rain is starting—why
are we lost why did
we just leave
where we just
were why is
everything
so far behind
now as we go on I
see you think
when you reach
me again to ask
why when I say
are you coming now &
you say no,
I want to stay, I want
things to stay, I do
not want to come
away from things—what
is this we are
entering—me taking yr
hand now to speed
our going
as fast as we can in this suddenly
hard rain, yr
hand not letting go
of the rose pebble u found
feeling the first itching of
personal luck as
you now slowly
pocket it thinking
you have taken
with you a piece of
what u could not
leave behind. It is
why we went there
and left there.
It is your why.
Published in the print edition of the July 5, 2021, issue.
Jorie Graham teaches at Harvard. Her latest collection of poems is “Runaway.”
