我曾经唯一一次搭便车，
我翘起拇指吸引了一位
十六轮车司机的注意。
他说他需要陪伴
保持清醒，
一直在路上行驶了十八个小时，
他大货车的尾部
拖着一辆巨型履带拖拉机。
我被载着去一百英里之外
我的家乡
拜访朋友
巡游熟悉的街道，
随着摇滚乐跳舞。
他点头示意我
爬进去
他挂到第二档上，
然后猛地向前跌
到方向盘上。
我感到惶恐不安，他可能死了吗，
我呼喊着拼命摇动
他的肩膀
缓和平稳地动，他醒了，
停住 卡车，问，
你知道怎么开车吗？
我说我在农场里开过粮食运输车。
我们交换了位置，他告诉我
两个前排挡之间是双重离合器。
然后他睡着了。
而我以每小时四十英里的速度开着，
这条路窄的像大草原上的一条小径，
速度似乎是六十英里。
我进入的第一个小城，唯一一次
我可能要闯红灯了，
我试图放慢速度，
但我没想到用双离合器
减慢挡位。
谢天谢地，那是晚饭时分
主干道上很少几个司机。
下一站就是我的家乡。
我设法把卡车停到郊外。
司机醒来，对我表示感谢。
我爬出卡车时仍然在发抖
下车走到坚实安全的地面上。
The only time I ever hitchhiked,
my thumb attracted the driver
of a sixteen wheeler.
He said he needed
company to stay awake,
been on the road for eighteen hours,
hauling a huge caterpillar
on the back of his rig.
I was headed to my home town
a hundred miles away
to visit friends,
cruise familiar streets,
and dance to rock and roll.
Nodding his head
for me to climb in,
he reached for second gear,
then slumped forward
onto the steering wheel.
Panicked he might be dead,
I shouted and shook
his shoulder fiercely.
In one smooth move, he woke,
stopped the truck and asked,
Do you know how to drive?
I said I’d driven grain trucks on farms.
We exchanged places, and he told me
to double clutch between forward gears.
Then he fell asleep.
When I reached forty miles per hour,
the road looked narrow like a path on the prairies,
and the speed seemed like sixty.
The first town I entered, and the only one
I would pass through with a stoplight,
I tried to slow,
but I didn’t think to double clutch
down through the gears.
Thank goodness it was dinnertime
and few drivers were on the main street.
The next stop was my hometown.
I managed to halt the truck on the outskirts.
The driver awakened and thanked me.
I was still shaking as I climbed out of the truck
and stepped down onto the safety of solid ground.
