哈德威克作品

解讀風暴瓶①

風暴期間，我在瓶子里建造了船。這是一門我爸爸從臨終的床上傳下來的技藝，那時，盡管他的心思在圣誕島②海岸廢棄的旅館當中赤著足漫游，但他的手卻穩定得像無法撤銷的命令。他告訴我，訣竅多半不在于木板和索具，而在于選擇理想的船員，因為在事業上極有抱負的人很快就會感到陷入困境，同時，底艙中一只運氣十足的老鼠就可以斷送航程。到了此時，他只喝健怡可樂了，我會讓他挺直地坐起來放松，他那小小身軀沉重得像戰爭，把一罐可樂傾斜到他那太陽暴曬過的嘴唇上，然后才劃船穿過那讓人精疲力盡的大海，回到一個早已在波濤之下擺動的家。我把瓶子里的水倒干，把火柴棍巧妙地擺弄成船殼和船樓，把棉花網編織得像我母親的頭發那樣精細，手持冒險的誓約和現金，從廉價酒吧和就業服務中心集合起堅實可靠的心靈。我提出爸爸的命令，但他的船已然駛離，船上的旗幟飄動著，送來在玻璃中扭曲變形的消息。

注： ① 即天氣預報瓶，一種天氣預報工具。 ② 南太平洋島國基里巴斯的一個島嶼。

READINGTHESTORMGLASS

During the storm times，I built ships in bottles.It was a skill my dad passed on from his deathbed when， although his mind was wandering barefoot amongst abandoned hotels on the Kiritimati shore， his hands were steady as irrevocable orders.The trick，he told me， is less in the planks and rigging than in selecting the ideal crew，as career high-flyers will soon feel trapped， while one arsey bilge rat can split the voyage into splinters. By this time he was only drinking diet cola， and I'd ease him upright， his tiny body heavy as war， and tip a can to his sun-baked lips，before rowing back through the shattering sea to a home that was already nodding beneath the waves. I drained bottles and manipulated matchsticks into hulls and castles， wove webs of cotton as fine as my mother’s hair， and mustered staunch hearts from dive bars and Jobcentres with pledges of adventure and cash in hand.I offered Dad command，but his ship had already sailed， its flags fluttering messages distorted in the glass.

圓木

去年冬天的圓木依然堆積著。太陽撫摸它們的時候，它們好像就燃燒，好像就流血。如此安靜，因此你聽得見塵埃落定，貓在做夢，雨水桶為了變成冰而聚集。院落呼吸狗的記憶，留在磨損的工具上的手印。天空反射那鋪在放有樟腦丸的抽屜里的報紙之光，我們的影子散發出飽經風霜之門的氣味。

LOGS

Logs are still piled from last winter.When the sun strokes them， they appear to blaze，appear to bleed. It's so quiet that you can hear the dust settling，the cat dreaming， the rain butt gathering itself to become ice.The yard breathes the memory of dogs， the handprints on worn tools. The sky reflects the light of newspapersspreadin mothballed drawers，and our shadows smell of seasoned doors.

風暴語法

相對于風，我們是門，搖擺著，不知道出去還是進來；我們是避雷針，等待那朝著地面的沖擊。有一些天空比這片天空還大，但我們每個人都聲索自己的天空，因為鐘擺在哥特式地窖來回搖擺，在黑與白之間逐漸變化之際，我們就懷疑最后的審判日迫在眉睫，便把它裝進袋子，系上標簽。果實，明亮得像電燈泡，在風暴中搖晃，接受重力環境，用探索的皮膚摸索泥土：正如在近親們發來的已經存檔的賀卡上表達過的一樣，我們把它裝進袋子，系上標簽，把它跟愛貯存在一起。然后它回來了：一陣對著窗慟哭、猛然沖開或關上門、把天空萎縮成哥特式地窖的風的女巫，與腐爛的果實并列。黑暗中，有人不正確地使用那個有關聯的詞，但那是相對微不足道的錯誤。遲早，有人都得把尸體裝進袋子，系上標簽，如今語法和詞匯都無法幫助我們了。

STORM GRAMMAR

Relative to the wind， we are doors， swinging， with no idea of out or in; we are lightning rods waiting for the groundward charge. There are bigger skies than this，but we each claim our own，bag it and tag it for the reckoning we suspect is imminent，as the pendulum swings in the gothic cellar， shading between black and white. Fruit， bright as lightbulbs， swings in the storm， adopts the condition of gravity， feeling for the earth with questing skin： we bag it and tag it， store it with love，as expressed in archived greetings cards from close relatives. Then it comes： a witch of a wind wailing at the windows， dashing doors open or closed， shrinking the sky into a gothic cellar， rank with rotten fruit.In the dark， someone uses the word relatable incorrectly，but it’s a relatively trivial error. Sooner or later someone will have to bag and tag the bodies， and neither grammar nor lexis can help us now.

幽靈的第一封電子郵件

這條消息是說我找到了所有的日歷，撕碎了所有的照片。這條消息是說我洗過了所有的空罐子，將其放在指定的垃圾箱里。這條消息是說我還在購買你最喜歡的巧克力餅干，長途步行回家。到這條消息抵達你的時候，你就會醒來，科學家—徹頭徹尾的科學家，身穿白大褂，頭發蓬亂，即使有家也絕不會回去，會找到一種阻止籠子里那只細長的鳥兒沉默的方式，你喜愛的一切都會再度流行，愛情會再度流行。這條消息是說時間雖然遼闊而不可避免，也可以輕而易舉地被包含在八音盒里，被包含在小小的金戒指的圓周里面。這條消息包含影像，但打開附件時要當心。

THE GHOST'S FIRST EMAIL

This message is to say I have found all the calendars， shredded all the photographs.It is to say I have washed all the empty jars and placed them in the designated bins.It is to say that I am still buying your favourite chocolate biscuits and walking the long way home.By the time it reaches you， you will be awake， scientists—the proper ones， with white coats and dishevelled hair， who would never go home， even if they had homes—will have found a way to stop that spindly bird from falling silent in its cage，and everything you love will be back in fashion.Love will be back in fashion. This message is to say that although time is vast and inevitable， it can easily be contained in a musical box or within the circumference of a small gold ring. This message contains images， but beware of opening attachments.