Say “death” and the whole room freezes–

说到“死”，整个房间都冻结了——

even the couches stop moving,

甚至沙发也停止了挪动，

even the lamps.

还有灯。

Like a squirrel suddenly aware it is being looked at.

像一只松鼠陡然意识到正被人盯着。

Say the word continuously,

连续说这个词，

and things begin to go forward.

事物开始前进。

Your life takes on

你的生活呈现出

the jerky texture of an old film strip.

老电影胶片痉挛的质感。

Continue saying it, hold it moment after moment inside the mouth,

继续说它，在嘴里多含一会儿，

it becomes another syllable.

它变成了另外一个音节。

A shopping mall swirls around the corpse of a beetle.

一家购物中心围着一只甲虫的尸体打旋。

Death is voracious, it swallows all the living.

死是贪婪的，它吞噬着所有的生命。

Life is voracious, it swallows all the dead.

生活是贪婪的，它吞噬着所有的死亡。

neither is ever satisfied, neither is ever filled,

它们都不曾满意，也都不知餍足，

each swallows and swallows the world.

每一个都吞噬着、吞噬着这个世界。

The grip of life is as strong as the grip of death.

生活的握力与死亡的握力同样强大。

(but the vanished, the vanished beloved, o where?)

（但那些消失的，那些消失了的亲爱的，噢，在哪里？）