BY LINDA MCCAULEY FREEMAN
The people of New Guinea wave
from the road, bags slung from their heads,
babies hammocked in kaleidoscope nets
around their mothers. My husband and I
have crossed the equator into summer.
Hours and a day have appeared
and disappeared. November 11 comes
and comes again, a never-ending bounty
of too much against too little.
Bare-chested children with painted faces
and feathers vie for the camera. Their
ancestors would have had us for breakfast
slicing thigh to bone, alive, raw.
Like the Rockefeller boy who vanished here
in the ‘60s? The private investigator
Nelson hired to find his son brought back
only three skulls, “I think one is his.”
Today the people of New Guinea chew
Beetle nut plants and berries, grin stained
gaping gums reddened and oranged.
Mount Tavurvu and Vulcan smoke around them.
Their last eruptions buried Rabul.
The people live among the ashes.
We drive through dust,
breathe into our palms. Visit
Admiral Yamamoto’s bunker, rusted
remains of Japanese guns, tanks, and
an entire side of an American bomber
inscribed “Naughty but Nice” and think
of the boys who just wanted to fly.
在路上揮手的新幾內亞人，
從頭上懸吊下來的袋子，
吊在如萬花筒一樣的網床裏的嬰兒，
那網圍繞在母親的身邊。
我和丈夫
已經穿過赤道進入了夏天。
時日出現又消失。
11月11日來了一次又一次，
此消彼長的事實永無止境。
赤裸上身的孩子臉上塗滿了畫，
穿戴在他們身上的羽毛很搶鏡頭。
他們的祖先若還在，會把我們當早餐享用
削掉大腿肉到骨頭，生吞活剝。
就像消失在1960年代的洛克菲勒男孩？
私家偵探 Nelson 被雇傭去尋找他的兒子，帶回的
只有三個頭骨，“我想其中一個是你兒子的。”
如今，新幾內亞人們咀嚼
檳榔和各種漿果，露出
被染紅的牙齦笑著。
Tavurvu 和 Vulcan 火山四周冒著煙。
它們最後的一次爆發埋葬了 Rabul。
那裏的人們住在灰燼中。
我們驅車穿越塵埃，
用手捂著鼻子。參觀
Admiral Yamamoto 地堡、生銹的
日本槍支、坦克殘骸，以及
一輛美國轟炸機，機身整面
被刻上了 “淘氣但友好” 的字樣，
這讓人想到那些只想要飛翔的男孩子們。
Linda McCauley Freeman (AKA Linda Freeman) is an avid traveler. She has an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. For five years, she was the poet-in-residence for the Putnam County Arts Council. Her work has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Chronogram and, most recently, the Nancy Drew Anthology by Silver Birch Press.
Linda McCauley Freeman （又叫 Linda Freeman）是一名狂熱的旅行者。擁有 Bennington College 寫作與文學的藝術類碩士學位。五年來，她作為 Putnam County Arts Council 藝術委員會的駐地詩人。她的作品出版在眾多文學期刊和文集中，包括 《Chronogram》，最近的作品發表在由 Silver Birch Press 出版的《Nancy Drew Anthology》上。
