为什么蓟草生生不息--马克辛.库敏

除非饿极了
绵羊不会吃它
马儿和牛儿也不会吃。
未加约束地，它就会随意在
牧场和草地上杂乱无序地拓展
阻塞甜甜草的空间
击败三叶草
直至你被迫
拿出武器对抗它
但如果不假思索
你就徒手抓住它
你就需要小镊子
拔出刺。

在联邦大多数
北方的州无法无天
它依然跃过边界。
它的主根钻得很深
深过地下河
一旦它被用面包刀
或铲子割断
--两种被不顾一切
最常使用的方法--
剩余的那点儿就会像
龙的牙齿那样冒出来
一田野都尽是
竖起刺毛的戒备着的战士。

秋天蓟爆发出
小小的明艳的
铬黄色爆炸
那时候金翅雀贪婪地
吃着其花上的种籽。
吃剩下的
逐渐枯萎，迅猛张开
降落伞携带
着它们的生殖力量
各奔东西
进入每一个半球
那就是为什么
来年总有蓟草的原因。
Sheep will not eat it
nor horses nor cattle
unless they are starving.
Unchecked, it will sprawl over
pasture and meadow
choking the sweet grass
defeating the clover
until you are driven
to take arms against it
but if unthinking
you grasp it barehanded
you will need tweezers
to pick out the stickers.

Outlawed in most Northern
states of the Union
still it jumps borders.
Its taproot runs deeper
than underground rivers
and once it’s been severed
by breadknife or shovel
—two popular methods
employed by the desperate—
the bits that remain will
spring up like dragons’ teeth
a field full of soldiers
their spines at the ready.

Bright little bursts of
chrome yellow explode from
the thistle in autumn
when goldfinches gorge on
the seeds of its flower.
The ones left uneaten
dry up and pop open
and parachutes carry
their procreant power
to disparate venues
in each hemisphere
which is why there will always
be thistle next year.
“Why There Will Always Be Thistle” by Maxine Kumin from The Long Marriage. © W.W. Norton, 2003.