PBS高端访谈:诗歌伴随着我们生命中的重要时刻（在线收听）

AMNA NAWAZ: It's National Poetry Month, whereby poetry is lauded in schools, libraries and bookstores all over the country. Poetry often gets a bad rap for being inaccessible, or too esoteric for most readers' tastes. But, tonight, poet and author David Gewanter shares his Humble Opinion on how, in fact, we use poetry in deeply important moments in our lives.

DAVID GEWANTER, Poet: Just the other day, I heard that poetry had died again. Poetry, the critics tell us, is too slow for our wired, sound-bitten world. I won't speak against these funeral directors of poetry. Who knows, they might tell me I'm dead too. But little shreds of poems are lying all around, like clumps of DNA found at the murder scene or some healthy virus passing when a body meets a body, coming through the rye. You don't need to be much of a detective to find it. We all carry bits of song with us, tatters of prayers, movie lines or advertising jingles. We pocket them as souvenirs to help us remember things, like carpentry's righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. Some poem viruses protect us, such as the sailor's rhyme: Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. So, poetry may be dead, but, as for poems, they don't rest in peace. They leave little twigs and thorns inside our heads, jabbing us awake. They witness our most vital moments. They warm our bedrooms and cheer the birth room. Poems reliably show up for graduations, weddings, and retirements, brimming with tearful homilies. And they never miss a funeral. Poems also help us through the prosaic days. I heard a couple having a not-heart-to-heart exchange, and thought of the two-liner from my teacher the poet Thom Gunn: Their relationship consisted in discussing if it existed. Years later, after Thom Gunn died, I wrote this dream poem about him walking by: My teacher limps on his heavy boot, the heel broken off. A cobbler's shop appears, and I buy the black nails, the hammer, glue and strapping. I work hard on it, bending there, until he speaks and walks on. But, as he is dead, his voice and step make no sound. So, poems give the past a second life. And poems help us move from who we are to who we want to become. They mix present life with our imagination and desires. Like a seat belt, crossing our hearts and loins, they define our position, even as we travel down the road. So, keep your poems close. The inner life you save may be your own.

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：本月是全国诗歌月，诗歌在全国各地的学校，图书馆及书店广受赞誉。诗歌往往因为晦涩难懂而受到谴责，或者对于大多数读者的口味而言太过深奥。但是，今晚诗人兼作家大卫·赫瓦特分享了他的“谦卑观点”，在我们生活中的重要时刻，应如何运用诗歌。

大卫·赫瓦特，诗人：就在那一天，我听说诗歌又一次死去了。批评论者说，我们的世界纷繁交错，句句一针见血，诗歌对于我们而言太慢了。我不会声讨这些诗歌的埋葬者。谁知道，他们可能会告诉我，我也死了。但是，诗歌碎片散落，犹如谋杀现场发现的DNA团块，或者当身体互相接触时，通过黑麦传播的健康病毒。发现它的踪迹相当容易。歌曲常伴我们左右，祷告音乐，电影插曲或广告片段。我们将它们作为纪念品包裹起来，帮助我们记住一些事情，比如木工的配件。一些诗歌“病毒”保护着我们，比如水手的韵律：早上红色的天空，水手们要警惕。所以，诗歌可能已经死了，但是，对于诗歌来说，它们并不安宁。它们在我们头顶留下小树枝和荆棘，让我们醒来。它们见证了我们最重要的时刻。它们温暖我们的卧房，为新生命而欢呼雀跃。诗歌出现在毕业典礼，婚礼以及退休仪式上，分外可靠，不由让人们泪流满面。它们不会错过任何一场葬礼。在那些了然无趣的日子里，诗歌帮我们渡过。我听说有一对夫妇心不在焉地交流，并想起我的老师，诗人托姆·葛恩的句子：他们的关系除了讨论就没别的了，如果这种关系真的存在。多年以后，在汤姆·葛恩死后，我写下了这首梦想诗，关于他的过往：我的老师，他穿着沉甸甸的靴子，有些跛足，脚跟脱落。一个皮匠的商店出现了，我买了黑色的指甲，锤子，胶水和捆扎带。我努力工作，劳碌不辍，直到他说话并继续前行。但是，他已经走了，他的声音和脚步悄无声息。所以，诗歌给了过去第二次生命。诗歌可以帮助我们从我们的身份转变为我们想成为的人。它们将现在的生活与我们的想象和欲望混合。就像安全带一样，穿过我们的心脏和腰部，即使我们在路上，它们也确定了我们的位置。所以，保持你与诗歌的密切。你留存的内心可能是你自己的。