绿街是小城上最繁华的街道。
我走上绿街，远远地看到地上有一片毯子在挪动。走近后，我才注意到瘦窄的她。她上半身黑色的夹克衫，已有一半隐匿进背景。
我不敢回头去看她的正脸。这个动作有太多可能的解读：我打量她、我同情她、我鄙视她、我嘲笑她。在她和周围人之间，除去有房子住和没有房子住之外，另有一层社会性的围栏把人群隔离开来。
我记得上周在同样的位置，有个白人青年就靠坐在她身边，同她聊天。我也很想听她的故事，可我是文化上的外来者，对这个文明有好奇，也有恐惧。
但它的图腾之一声名远扬。我想告诉她，其实那毯子有点像超人的披风。
我在每个人身上看到披风。
Green Street is the busiest street in this small city.
Walking down Green Street, I saw something moving on the pavement in the distance—a blanket, shifting slowly. Only when I came closer did I see her: thin, hunched, almost disappearing. Her black jacket was already half-swallowed by the shadows.
I didn’t dare look back at her face. The gesture could mean too many things: judgment, pity, contempt, mockery. Between her and everyone else passing by, there’s more than just the divide between housed and unhoused—there’s an invisible fence, a social barrier that keeps us all apart.
Last week, I saw a young white man sitting beside her at this same spot, talking with her. I wanted to hear her story too. But I’m an outsider here, drawn to this civilization with equal parts curiosity and fear.
Still, one of its symbols is known the world over. I wanted to tell her: that blanket of yours—it looks a little like Superman’s cape.
I see capes on everyone.
Translation by Claude