Homing Pigeon
--Chian-wu Chen (陳千武, 1922-2012), translated by Hao-yuan Lo
Buried in Southeast Asia
My death, I forgot to bring it back
Down there, islands were covered by thriving coconut trees
There were sinuous coast lines, and
Canoes oared by native people in the sea…
I outwitted those native people and lulled their suspicions
Passed through rows of coconut trees
Deep into the verdant jungles
And finally hid my death in a corner of the thick forest
Since then
During the furious Second World War
I lived leisurely
Even though I was assigned as a heavy machine gunner
Fought the war from one island to another
Showered by enemy fighter’s 15 millimeter caliber bullets
Being the target of enemy shooting
And heard the rumbling march of strong enemies
I was still not dead
Because my death had been concealed in a corner of the thick forest
Until the unjust warlords yielded
And I came back to my fatherland
It occurred to me that
My death, I forgot to bring it back
What I buried in a Southeast Asian island, my only death
I guess one day
It will, like a homing pigeon
Fly back to me, with some messages from the south
--first published in Shin Shian (New Image) magazine, Vol.5, July 25, 1964.
Chian-wu Chen, The Selected Poems of Chian-wu Chen, Taipei: Gueiguan
Publishing Company, 2001, pp.111-112.
信鴿
--陳千武 (1922-2012)
埋設在南洋
我底死，我忘記帶回來
那裡有椰子樹繁密的島嶼
蜿蜒的海濱，以及
海上，土人操櫓的獨木舟……
我瞞過土人的懷疑
穿過並列的椰子樹
深入蒼鬱的密林
終於把我底死隱藏在密林的一隅
於是
在第二次激烈的世界大戰中
我悠然地活著
雖然我任過重機槍手
從這個島嶼轉戰到那個島嶼
沐浴過敵機十五厘的散彈
擔當過敵軍射擊的目標
聽過強敵動態的聲勢
但我仍未曾死去
因為我底死早先隱藏在密林的一隅
一直到不義的軍閥投降
我回到了，祖國
我才想起
我底死，我忘記帶了回來
埋設在南洋島嶼的那唯一的我底死
我想總有一天
一定會像信鴿那樣，
帶回一些南方的消息飛來──
--發表於1964年7月 25日《新象》第5期
陳千武，《陳千武精選詩集》，（台北：桂冠，2001），頁111-112。
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