Always Something

Always Something

Peter Fallon

There's always something --

 a trail of bindweed（旋花类植物） 

 trumpeting September 

 the length of field wall 

 and worn fences; that clamp 

 of silage（青贮） an ember（灰烬，余烬） 

on the left as you leave here, 

 smouldering 

 on the slab 

 of Napers' yard on winter 

 mornings; a lace pattern 

 in the tractor cab 

that's a dew-silvered 

 spider's web; new grass 

 a light veil of green mist 

 along the furrowed（有沟痕的） 

 brow of earth 

 it barely kissed: 

a pledge of hay. 

 House martins on their lap 

 of honour around the house earn 

 our applause 

 as we concelebrate 

 the victory of their return. 

Always something --

 the hedgerow（灌木篱墙） where 

 haw blossom simmered 

 and boiled over 

 in the heat of May; that smell 

 where honeysuckle shimmered

after a spill of rain. Spiders 

 perform high-wire acts 

 without a safety net. 

 A pheasant dives 

 into a pool of air. 

 Fireworks beget 

ragwort's 

 rank alchemy（点金术，魔力） of August 

 while manes of gossamer 

 wave in the currents 

 of low sky, windblown 

 on the horse of summer. 

Crosshatch design 

 of elderberry bark 

 like harbour ropes in watery 

 sway -- and all the while, 

 'way in the west, a trawler（拖网渔船） 

 marries port to sea, 

the gulls' cheers in its wake 

 a bridal train 

 behind a sudsy（起泡沫的） wedding dress. 

 Always something ... And now,

 tell me again, who was it exactly 

 you were trying to impress.