Walking a Labyrinth

时间：2014-10-23 05:17:15

（单词翻译:单击）

Walking a Labyrinth1
Douglas Goetsch
 
 
Eleanor, who is driving 
 me to the Atlantic 
 City bus station, 
 
asks if I wouldn't 
 mind stopping 
 at a labyrinth 
 
in Longport she hates 
 to pass. Outside of 
 mythology, or The Shining,
 
all I know of labyrinths 
 is that you're supposed 
 to walk them, slowly. 
 
This one is painted: 
 white lines 
 on green asphalt. 
 
Feel yourself emptying, 
 she tells me 
 as we meander2 in, 
 
the countless3 switch-backs 
 relieved by long arcs 
 that deliver us 
 
into new quadrants. 
 An Hispanic woman 
 and two little boys 
 
have joined us, but 
 the boys soon lose 
 patience, and cut to 
 
the circle in the middle,
 where they shove one another 
 like sumo wrestlers. 
 
When we arrive, I'm not 
 sure if I've accomplished 
 anything. I look over 
 
at the Church of the Redeemer, 
 which is closed, feeling 
 quietly mocked. 
 
On the way out, Eleanor 
 tells me, you're supposed 
 to fill yourself with aspirations, 
 
things you want in your life. 
 That strikes me 
 as a little greedy --
 
though I would like 
 to make my bus. 
 Eleanor would like 
 
her Bahá'í divorce 
 to be over with,
 the year of living alone 
 
and dating nobody 
 but her husband. 
 It becomes hypnotic,
 
retracing4 the turns, 
 the painted lanes... 
 I look up 
 
and see my mother, 
 whom I haven't 
 seen in years,
 
treading innocently 
 as anyone 
 while walking a labyrinth, 
 
or folding laundry, 
 or driving a child 
 to the doctor. 
 
You could try 
 to figure it out, 
 the pattern of it all, 
 
But it might 
 be better just 
 to walk it, slowly.

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1 labyrinth h9Fzr     
n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路
参考例句：
  • He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
  • The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。
2 meander meander     
n.河流的曲折，漫步，迂回旅行；v.缓慢而弯曲地流动，漫谈
参考例句：
  • Visitors and locals alike meander along the sidewalks of the Seine River.游客与当地人沿着塞纳河岸漫步聊天。
  • They tumble down mountainsides and meander through flat farmlands.它们滚滚冲下山脊，蜿蜒穿过平坦的农田。
3 countless 7vqz9L     
adj.无数的，多得不计其数的
参考例句：
  • In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
  • I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。
4 retracing d36cf1bfa5c6c6e4898c78b1644e9ef3     
v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯
参考例句：
  • We're retracing the route of a deep explorer mission. 我们将折回一个深入的探险路线中去。 来自电影对白
  • Retracing my steps was certainly not an option. 回顾我的脚步并不是个办法。 来自互联网

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