At twelve, my friend and I
exchanged our pets.
He brought a gray bird and I, a lizard.
They carried the warmth of our bodies.

We were nothing alike. I loved fighting, he
was a dreamer. My dad was an electrician, his
a trombonist. I still remember him saying,
“there should be animals in a symphony.”

A gray bird and a lizard on leashes. The two of us
calm as midwives, one checking the lizard’s genitalia,
the other, the bird’s teeth. A choice
between flying and climbing. We cared about it deeply.

2007-4-10

交换
十二岁时我与伙伴
交换彼此拥有的动物。他拿出
一只灰鸟，我拿出一只蜥蜴。它们分别带着
两个人的体温。

两个人性情不同，我爱打架而他爱
幻想。我父亲是一名水电工他父亲是一名
长号手，现在我还记得他，他曾说
“乐队里应该有动物”。

灰鸟和蜥蜴，都拴着线。我俩
冷静如助产妇，一个检查蜥蜴的性别
一个看鸟的牙齿。这可是
飞与爬的交换，我们很在乎。

2007-4-10