Something has come between us—

有什麼東西介入了我們——

It will not sleep.

它徹夜不眠。

Every night it rises like a fish

像魚，在每個夜晚

Out of the deep.

從深水裏浮現。

It cries with a human voice,

它嗷嗷待哺，

It aches to be fed.

用人的聲音啼泣。

Every night we heave it weeping

每天夜裏我們將它哭著

Into our bed,

拖到我們枕前，

With its heavy head lolled back,

它的頭沉甸甸的，

Its limbs hanging down,

它的四肢垂懸，

Like a mer-creature fetched up

像一個海生物

From the weeds of the drowned.

從纏住溺死者的水草間撈起。

Damp in the tidal dark, it whimpers,

濕漉漉，在潮汐般的黑暗中嗚咽，

Tossing the cover,

它掀翻被子，

Separating husband from wife,

分開妻子和丈夫，

Lover from lover.

情侶和愛人。

It settles in the interstice,

它在我們的夾縫中安頓，

It spreads out its arms,

胳膊恣意伸展，

While its cool underwater face

它冰涼的水下的臉

Sharpens and warms:

變得溫暖，清晰：

This is the third thing that makes

這便是成全父母的

Father and mother,

第三樣東西，

The fierce love of our fashioning

我們激烈的愛的造物

That will have no brother.

拒絕任何兄弟。