Five Tankas

Harryette Mullen

Walking along the green path with buds 

 in my ears, too engrossed in（埋头于，热衷于） the morning news 

 to listen to the stillness of the garden. 

            Don't need picket fences（尖桩篱栅）, brick wall, 

            or razor wire. Our home's protected by 

            prickly pear cactus（仙人掌） and thorny bougainvillea（叶子花属）. 

My reckless shadow, landing on the twelve-lane 

 freeway down below this pedestrian bridge, 

 playing chicken with oncoming cars. 

            Clicking through images downloaded 

            from your camera. Those buskers（街头艺人） haven't finished 

            playing, and already they're in your archive. 

In a few billion years Andromeda Galaxy 

 will collide with our Milky Way, but worlds 

 come to an end every day.