喇叭裤和粗跟鞋--玛利亚.马奇奥蒂.姬兰

一位朋友发给我一张她自己
七十年代的照片--喇叭裤，厚底鞋
一件有图案的单排扣衬衫，
烫着爆炸头。

我能看见她现在的轮廓，她
让我想起七十年代的我自己--
和一位男人结婚八年了
我知道我看见他的那刻就爱上了他，
两个孩子对我来说似乎也精致漂亮
因为他们看上去像我的丈夫
而不像我。

这张照片让我想起所有那些夜晚
那时我穿着喇叭裤，丝质花衬衫
和粗跟鞋。那些夜晚
我们邀请朋友喝酒聊天，
我们的孩子在楼上睡着。那些衣服，
我烫得头发，因为我想要扮酷，虽然
我的头发已经卷曲，所以烫发让我看上去
像我把我的手指陷入电灯插座里。

我看那时候我们的照片--丹尼斯和我
一起站在餐厅桌子前头，
朋友们围着我们而坐。丹尼斯的脸泛着红，
他的眼睛闪闪发亮。我寻思他是否略有醉意。
他穿着一件合适的印有花朵的衬衫。
我咧嘴笑着看着他。我可能也带着
一个上面写着我爱你的霓虹标记。

回看那时的我们。我想要告诉
年轻的自己--看看你多幸运，
你爱的男人在你身边，你的孩子
在安全的床上睡着，你的朋友围绕着你。
仔细聆听吧，感激扑捉到照片里的
时时刻刻吧，
这个世界充满了可能性，
天空还没有变暗。
A friend sends me a picture of herself
from the 70s—bell bottoms, platform shoes
a patterned button down shirt,
hair puffed up from a perm.

I can see the outline of the person she is now
and she reminds me of myself in the 70s—
married for eight years to a man
I knew I loved the moment I saw him,
two children who seem to me exquisitely
beautiful because they look like my husband
and not me.

The picture reminded me of all those evenings
When I dressed in bell bottoms and silky patterned shirts
and shoes with chunky heels. Those evenings
we’d invite friends over for drinks and conversation,
our children asleep upstairs. Those clothes, the perm
I got, because I wanted to be cool, though my hair
was already kinky, so the perm made me look
like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket.

I look at a picture of us from that time—Dennis and I
standing together at the head of the dining room table,
friends seated around us. Dennis’s face is flushed,
his eyes shining. I wonder if he is tipsy.
He is wearing a fitted shirt with little flowers on it.
I am grinning and looking up at him. I might as well be
wearing a neon sign that says I love you.

Looking back at us. I would like to tell
my younger self—look how fortunate you are,
the man you love beside you, your children sleeping
in their safe beds, your friends around you.
Listen, be grateful for the moments
caught in these photographs,
the world full of possibility,
the sky not yet darkened.