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.