烧 肉
 
发布时间:2008-07-28 来源:翻译中国 发布者:上海翻译公司


烧 肉

我盯着烧肉,
它切好了摆在
我的盘子里
在它上面
我用调羹浇上
胡萝卜和洋葱的汁水。
这一回我没去懊悔
时间的流逝。

我坐在一扇窗边
它注视着
建筑物上烟灰弄脏的砖块
我并不在乎我看不见
一点点活的东西——没有鸟,
没有开花的树枝,
没有一个人
在阴暗的窗玻璃后面的
那些房间里移动。
这些日子每当没什么
可以去爱,去赞美
人会显得
比屈从于食物的威力
更糟糕。
于是我弯下身

吸取
从我的盘子里
升起的水汽,我想起了
那第一次
就像这样
我品尝一块烧肉。
那是多年以前
在新斯科舍的
西伯利特;

我母亲俯身
将我的盘碟盛满
而当我吃完
重又将它添上。
我记得那肉汤,
它那蒜与芹的气味,
我把它统统蘸取
用几片面包。

而如今
我又品尝着它。
这记忆的肉块。
这滋味依旧的肉块。
我举起叉子
我吃。



  POTROAST

I gaze upon the roast,
that is sliced and laid out
on my plate
and over it
I spoon the juices
of carrot and onion.
And for once I do not regret
the passage of time.

I sit by a window
that looks
on the soot-stained brick of buildings
and do not care that I see
no living thing-not a bird,
not a branch in bloom,
not a soul moving
in the rooms
behind the dark panes.
These days when there is little
to love or to praise
one could do worse
than yield
to the power of food.
So I bend

to inhale
the steam that rises
from my plate, and I think
of the first time
I tasted a roast
like this.
It was years ago
in Seabright,
Nova Scotia;

my mother leaned
over my dish and filled it
and when I finished
filled it again.
I remember the gravy,
its odor of garlic and celery,
and sopping it up
with pieces of bread.

And now
I taste it again.
The meat of memory.
The meat of no change.
I raise my fork
and I eat.