我在海边捡到这块颚骨

I found this jawbone at the sea's edge:

那里，海蟹，角鲨，被细浪击碎，抛起，

There, crabs, dogfish, broken by the breakers or tossed

半小时后碎成粉末

To flap for half an hour and turn to a crust

一切又重新开始。海水很凉：

Continue the beginning. The deeps are cold:

漆黑的海底不讲究友谊：

In that darkness camaraderie does not hold.

没有轻触，只有捕捉和吞噬。那些颚，

Nothing touches but, clutching, devours. And the jaws,

在吃饱吞足或者松开紧张的欲望

Before they are satisfied or their stretched purpose

以前，就滑下另一些颚；只剩下光骨。颚

Slacken, go down jaws; go gnawn bare. Jaws

吞吃，被吞吃，然后颚骨冲上沙滩：

Eat and are finished and the jawbone comes to the beach:

这是大海的成就；还有贝壳，

This is the sea's achievement; with shells,

脊椎骨，利爪，甲壳，头骨，

Verterbrae, claws, carapaces, skulls.

海中的岁月吃掉它的全部，变强壮，吐出

Time in the sea eats its tail, thrives, casts these

这些不消化的，欲望的帆桅，

Indigestibles, the spars of purposes

自海面上沉落。什么也不会

That failed far from the surface. None grow rich

在海里兴盛。这些弯弯的颚骨没有笑

In the sea. This curved jawbone did not laugh

而是牙关紧咬，现在成为一座纪念碑。

But gripped, gripped and is now a cenotaph.