By Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
中译：
我不关心
你为生存做了些什么，
我想知道
你的追求，
你是否敢于梦想去触碰内心的渴望。
我不关心；
你的年龄多大，
我想知道
你是否愿意为了生命中的那些爱、梦想和冒险
而被别人看作傻瓜。
我不关心
你是什么星座，
我想知道
你是否已触及自己悲伤的中心，
是否因生活的种种背叛而心胸开阔，
抑或因为害怕更大的痛苦而消沉封闭！
我想知道
你是否能面对痛苦——我的或者你自己的，
而不必去隐藏、涂抹或修饰
我想知道
你是否能享受快乐——我的或者你自己的，
你是否能充满野性地舞蹈，从指端到足尖都满是沉醉，
而不是告诫他人要小心、要现实、要记住做人的禁忌。
我不关心
你告诉我的故事是否真实，
我想知道
你是否能对自己真诚而不怕令别人失望，
你是否能承受背叛的指责而不出卖自己的灵魂。
我想知道
你是否能放下执念，直面现实；
我想知道
你是否能从日常的平淡无奇中
发现美
并从中汲取养分。
我想知道
你是否能在失败后——你的和我的，
还依然能站立在湖边对着银色的满月放声大喊
“真好！”
我不关心
你在哪里生活或
拥有多少金钱，
我想知道，
在一个悲伤、绝望、厌世和痛彻骨髓的夜晚之后，
你是否能起床，继续劳作。
我不关心
你是谁，是如何来到这里，
我想知道，你是否愿同我一起站在烈焰的中心，毫不退缩。
我不关心
你在哪儿，和谁一同
学习了什么，
我想知道，
当一切都背弃你时，是什么在内心支撑你前行。
我想知道，
你是否能面对孤独，
你是否真正喜欢
独自一人时面对的那个自己。
转自豆瓣小组的这个讨论，译文我做了小修改。
讨论：http://www.douban.com/group/topic/20286000/
这首诗的作者是 Oriah Mountain Dreamer ，是一位女性，出生在Ontario现居Toronto，加拿大人。她的官方网站是http://www.oriah.org
这首诗也是所在诗集的名字。这首诗就贴在这个网站首页的左侧，红底白体斜字。
