April
Alicia Ostriker

The optimists among us
taking heart（振作，鼓起勇气） because it is spring
skip along
attending their meetings
signing their e-mail petitions（请愿）
marching with their satiric（讽刺的） signs
singing their we shall overcome songs
posting their pungent（辛辣的） twitters and blogs
believing in a better world
for no good reason
I envy them
said the old woman

The seasons go round they
go round and around
said the tulip（郁金香）
dancing among her friends
in their brown bed in the sun
in the April breeze
under a maple canopy（天篷，华盖）
that was also dancing
only with greater motions
casting greater shadows
and the grass
hardly stirring

What a concerto（协奏曲）
of good stinks said the dog
trotting along（快点去，出发） Riverside Drive
in the early spring afternoon
sniffing this way and that
how gratifying（悦人的） the cellos（大提琴） of the river
the tubas of the traffic
the trombones（长号）
of the leafing elms（榆树） with the legato（连奏的）
of my rivals’ piss at their feet
and the leftover meat and grease
singing along in all the wastebaskets（废纸篓）