One Flesh by Elizabeth Jennings
《一體》--伊麗莎白·詹寧斯
Lying apart now, each in a separate bed
靜靜躺著,在兩張分開的床上
He with a book keeping the light on late
他,留著一盞小燈翻書夜讀
She like a girl dreaming of childhood
她,像個孩子一樣夢回童年
All men elsewhere - it is as if they wait some new event:
所有世上的人——似乎都期待著嶄新生活
The book he holds unread
他捧著的書,還未輕啟品讀
Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead
她盯著上方的陰影,還未合上雙眼
Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion
假裝從先前的激情中清醒,準備匆匆入睡
How cool they lie
多么平靜的謊言
They hardly ever touch
他們根本甚少碰觸對方
Or if they do, it is like a confession
或許他們有接觸,這像一場供認
Of having little feeling -- or too much
彼此沒有太多感覺——或是情感滿溢
Chastity faces them a destination
貞潔仍留,像是整段生命
For which their whole lives were a preparation
都在為抵達目的地做準備
Strangely apart, yet strangely close together
莫名分離,又莫名靠近
Silence between them like a thread to hold
沉默,像他們間牽著的細線
And not wind in
互不被卷入
And time itself's a feather, touching them gently
時間像片羽毛,輕輕在他們生命中拂過
Do they know they're old
他們是否意識到自己已然老去
These two who are my father and my mother
他們,是我的父親和母親
Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?
在我初降臨時激動難抑,現(xiàn)今的感情正逐漸冷卻了嗎?