Road Metal
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2016-07-29 07:27 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Road Metal
Timothy McBride
       -- for my grandmother, Margaret Kelly 
 
 
"You don't need that," she'd tell us when we'd beg 
 Two cents for bubblegum or licorice. 
 A bricklayer's daughter, she'd grown up hard 
 As cement -- never reached 100 pounds, 
 Lived on potatoes and tea, cut her own hair. 
 Husband gone, youngest child killed in the street, 
 She carried a ball peen hammer up her sleeve 
 On the daily walks she made us take all over town, 
 Crossing the river and the canal, circling the miles 
 Of Eastman Kodak's smokestacks, through the invisible 
 Hops-scented cloud of the Genesee Brewery, 
 Past the burned-out storefronts of the '67 riots, 
 Never stopping at the church where the brother 
 She wouldn't speak to, a Catholic priest, 
 Celebrated morning mass. We followed her 
 Through drain pipes and alleys1. We crawled under a gap 
 She found in the fence beside the KEEP OUT sign 
 And up onto the tracks of the New York Central Line, 
 Startled when she unclasped (this once) her change purse 
 And gave us each three pennies to lay on the polished rail. 
 When the tank cars and ore jennies had passed, 
 We sifted2 through the ballast rock 
 She said was called "road metal," excited as prospectors 
 For the ruined and unspendable glints of warm copper 
 Lincoln's face flattened3 to a smudge 
 Our first lesson in what our city's daily freight 
 Can do to words like "God" and "Trust."


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1 alleys ed7f32602655381e85de6beb51238b46     
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径
参考例句:
  • I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
  • The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷,来到城边。
2 sifted 9e99ff7bb86944100bb6d7c842e48f39     
v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 );筛滤;细查;详审
参考例句:
  • She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 flattened 1d5d9fedd9ab44a19d9f30a0b81f79a8     
[医](水)平扁的,弄平的
参考例句:
  • She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
  • I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。
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