One Flesh by Elizabeth Jennings
《一体》--伊丽莎白·詹宁斯

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
多么平静的谎言
They hardly ever touch
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？