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| Yongbo Ma |
Oranges
Somebody cleared the fields.
Somebody toppled the pines,
upturned the stumps.
Someone plowed the rows
straight as sunbeams in the heat
that made them swab their temples.
Maybe they spoke Spanish.
Someone stirred a hole for a seed,
cupped soil around the base of the seedling
that sprang back erect and deep green.
Somebody grafted the scion
to a Rough Lemon rootstock,
bandaged the cut
and watched it heal and blossom.
Someone spaded the irrigation ditches
and dusted the dirt
with mineral powders
till one day someone walked up the tree
and twisted off the oranges,
admiring one that was just about perfect.
Maybe she spoke Creole.
Someone heaved the full field boxes
onto the carts behind the tractor,
somebody hauled them to the truck
that hauled them to the plant
where the fruit was poured onto the conveyor.
Some women picked out the bad ones
they sell as juice
and some men sprayed wax on the good ones,
branded them with ink.
Then someone assembled the fruit
in corrugated cardboard, slid on the tops,
and banded the boxes to the skids.
And those piles inside the truck,
they didn’t just make themselves.
Somebody drove them north,
stopping at he forgot what diner
to sniff coffee and hear live voices.
Maybe he spoke English.
Later someone selected a crate
and carted it from market to storefront.
Somebody built the pyramids
of fruit at the produce stand.
Someone bagged this one
and typed its price on a register.
Maybe he spoke Korean.
A world of work
is in the ripe orange that I strip apart,
longitude by longitude.
I place a section
in my willing mouth
and its liquid fibers
dissolve on my tongue.
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| Zack Rogow |
橙子
有人清整了田地。
有人推倒了松树，
掘翻了树桩。
有人耕出田垄
笔直如烈日中的光束
逼得他们不住擦拭太阳穴。
或许他们说的是西班牙语。
有人为一粒种子刨出小坑，
捧起泥土围在幼苗根部
幼苗挺拔而立，呈深绿色。
有人将接穗嫁接到
粗皮柠檬的砧木上，
包扎好切口
守候其愈合，开花。
有人铲开灌溉渠
往泥土里播撒矿物粉末
直到某天，有人爬上树
拧下那些橙子，
端详着其中一颗，近乎完美。
或许她说的是克里奥尔语。
有人将装满的果箱
搬上拖拉机后面的拖车，
有人把箱子拖到卡车旁边
卡车再把它们拖到加工厂
在那里，果实被倒在传送带上。
一些女工挑出坏果
制成果汁出售
一些男工给好果喷蜡，
再用墨水打上标记。
而后有人将果实
装进瓦楞纸箱，盖上盖子，
再把箱子绑在垫木上。
而卡车里那成堆的果实，
可不是自己堆起来的。
有人驱车向北，
停在他忘了名字的某家小餐馆
嗅着咖啡，听着生动的人声。
或许他说的是英语。
之后有人挑了一箱
从市场运到店面。
有人在果蔬摊上
堆起了水果金字塔。
有人把这一颗装袋
在收银机上敲出价格。
或许他说的是韩语。
一个劳作的世界
就在这成熟的橙子里，
我一瓣一瓣把它剥开。
我取出一瓣
放进我欣然等候的口中
它多汁的纤维
在我的舌头上融化。
