香蕉共和國
被對的事物所圍繞正成為一種負荷
當你成為你的朋友，你的家具也一定要成為你
代表著真實的你以及其他陳列在架上和牆上的事物
如此你的朋友才能感受到一股善意
然後很自然而然地擺出一種姿態
愛你，因為那是真正的你
所有的報紙和書籍也都支持這樣的說法
最新流行的是任誰都難以抗拒的斑駁金屬風
從勞動者堅硬如鋼鐵的鞋尖
到女孩們頭上精緻的白金髮夾
那曾在科幻電影中預示的乾淨未來錯過了我們
道德衝動正試圖力挽狂瀾
於樂趣的潮濕中，有如麇集的蝗蟲
然而我們的主力產品——那血肉分離的身體——
卻被檢測出含有奴隸的成分深植於大舉西進的篷車隊伍時代
逐一數算每一頭美洲野牛隆起的背脊、剷平，深入更深入的內陸
再從未被鏡頭獵取的記憶，轉而投向
攪拌著更多恐懼的歷史拼盤，超出自動偵測器所能忍受的瘋狂份量
我們的男人上個禮拜已被送出
讓我們計算一下交易和消費信心指數
而在第一個人被碾平之後，魔咒很快就會將它套牢
任何人的猜測都可能成真：誰引用了什麼話、什麼話不重要……
就像我們，到目前為止，總是能及時全身而退
聆聽著從高科技馬桶噴出喜愛的歌曲
如此一路行來，盡其一切可能地尋求一絲一毫的慰藉
譯按：原文之標題為E Pluribus Bananas，借自拉丁語E Pluribus Unum，意為「一來自於眾」（One out of many.），為美國政府立國之座右銘，自1782年起該字樣出現於美國國璽上，也普遍見於美元硬幣，除了宣示美國是由眾多州所組成的聯邦政府，也意指美國社會是一個種族和文化的大熔爐，每一個體對整體而言都同等重要。此處乃藉其原意諷喻美國意欲同一化世界的霸權思想，也對資本主義消費文化下所衍生的拜／戀物心理多所揶揄。
（翻譯／江敏甄）
E Pluribus Bananas
Choosing the right pieces to surround oneself is an ongoing burden.
As you become your friends your furniture must become you,
stand for the real you, and something on each shelf
and wall so the friends feel friendliness.
Then striking poses comes naturally too,
people love you for the real you
and all the clippings and bookmarks to back it up.
These days fashion is brushed metal bending over us
from the steel toes of laboring hours
on up to the finest platinum barrettes on daughters,
yet the clean future foretold in sci-fi misses us,
the very moral impulse to tweak the onrush lost
in a dampening of fun, as focused hording,
while our main product - simple, disembodied gore –
is censored courtesy of servants embedded in a Westward caravan
ticking off each peak of bison leveled to pass further
from memories off camera, tossed
into the much-feared salads of history, kooky beyond all bearings
of automated feelers our men sent out last week,
counting sales and consumer confidence
after the prototypes were rolled out and spells roped them back in.
It’s anyone’s guess who quoted what; what said not important as
we - so far - always duck in in time,
jets angling favorite songs from hi-tech heated toilet seats
so that steering down here finds a modicum of comfort in all the effort.
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