ONE FLESH

Elizabeth Jennings

April.8th,2018

Lying apart now, each in a separate bed

静静躺着，在两张分开的床上

He with a book keeping the light on late

他，留着一盏小灯翻书夜读

She like a girl dreaming of childhood

她，像个孩子一样梦回童年

All men elsewhere - it is as if they wait some new event:

所有世上的人-似乎都期待着崭新生活

The book he holds unread

他捧着的书，还未轻启品读

Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead

她盯着上方的阴影，还未合上双眼

Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion

假装从先前的激情中清醒，准备匆匆入睡

How cool they lie.They hardly ever touch

多么平静的谎言，他们根本甚少碰触对方

Or if they do, it is like a confession

或许他们有接触，这像一场供认

Of having little feeling - or too much

彼此没有太多感觉-或是情感满溢

Chastity faces them a destination

贞洁仍留，像是整段生命

For which their whole lives were a preparation

都在为抵达目的地做准备

Strangely apart, yet strangely close together

莫名分离，又莫名靠近

Silence between them like a thread to hold

沉默，像他们间牵着的细线

And not wind in

互不被卷入

And time itself's a feather, touching them gently

时间像片羽毛，轻轻在他们生命中拂过

Do they know they're old

他们是否意识到自己已然老去

These two who are my father and my mother

他们，是我的父亲和母亲

Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold

在我初降临时激动难抑，现今的感情正逐渐冷却了吗