René Magritte, “Le Banquet” 1955, Oil on canvas, Private collection
There are also five versions of ‘The Banquet’ by Rene Magritte, starting in 1956 and extending to 1964
www.artic.edu/artworks/118718/the-banquet
trees speaking without leaves—for Yongbo
无叶之树在说话——致永波
European bare branches hum in the low wind.
Nothing from Harbin lands hard like an unwieldily dove
scattering grey feathers; timing withholding the turning dawn and day.
These purple branches will be hemisphere perfect here
and recognise each other across the other spaces
yet to be crossed. Varieties of species must eventually meet
on a dusty plateau, deciding to be one or the other,
Chinese, or European, or somewhere in between.
The branches are a natural resolution, their DNA swirling
on frontiers, holding mountains together, the soil gathered underneath
forests is listening to itself. Finally, a Harbin leaf falls ever so slightly
and drifts along Main Street as the poet walks by
9th October 2025, Yongbo is sometimes so quiet
that I don’t know if he is even still there and although I should be used to this,
after nearly two years, I am a noisy person so it still surprises me
Response Poetry By Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波
Ma Yongbo on Harbin’s Main Street, 18th March 2025
无叶之树在说话——致永波
trees speaking without leaves—for Yongbo
欧洲的光秃枝桠在微风中轻吟。
没有来自哈尔滨的事物，如笨拙的鸽子沉重落下，
抖落灰色的羽毛；时间阻止了黎明与白昼的转变。
这些紫色的枝桠将在此处成为完美的一半
它们将隔着其他尚未跨越的空间
彼此相认。不同种类的树木终会相遇
在尘土飞扬的高原，决定自身的归属，
中国，或是欧洲，亦或介于两者之间的某片土地。
枝桠本身便是自然的决断，它们的基因
在边界处盘旋，将群山维系，土壤聚集在森林之下
正在聆听自身。终于，一片来自哈尔滨的叶子
轻盈至极地沿着主街飘荡，当诗人从旁走过。
2025年10月9日，永波有时太过安静，
以至于我不知他是否仍在那里。
尽管已过去将近两年，我本该习惯这样的时刻，
可我本是个爱热闹的人，这样的寂静，依旧让我心生讶异。
Helen Pletts 19th June 2025, Cambridge, UK, Planet Earth, the Universe
A Place in the Garden that No One Disturbs
《花园里无人打扰的地方》
—for Helen and her self-determining garden by Ma Yongbo
——给海伦和她的民主制花园 马永波
Things grow quietly and vigorously,
their rotten abstract parts becoming moths.
Once these small windmills are startled by the light
they will spin around the street lamp all night.
They are not born for shy badgers
but they feed these creatures of the night
making their stripes smooth and clear.
There are also spiders of all sizes weaving webs,
turning the hedges grey and white, like wrapping hairnets
around the hair of an enchantress who’s unable to move.
These things born from death,
speak for the silent dead
when the dead can no longer speak for themselves,
when they can’t tell others
not to panic, because they have already died.
Similarly, if no abstract people come to disturb them
specific individuals can be like this, small but not insignificant
no more highs and lows, downstream or upstream,
the stratosphere incubating all the dust and hearts.
Morning of July 24, 2025
Response Poetry by Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated by Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
24th July 2025 (revised 24th October 2025)
Ma Yongbo 21st May 2025, Xi’an, China, Planet Earth, the Universe
《花园里无人打扰的地方》
A Place in the Garden that No One Disturbs
——给海伦和她的民主制花园 马永波
—for Helen and her self-determining garden by Ma Yongbo
事物在悄悄地，蓬勃地生长
它们腐烂的抽象部分变成了蛾子
这些小风车一旦被灯光惊起
就会整夜绕着路灯旋转
它们并不是为羞怯的獾子所生
却喂养了这些夜晚的生灵
让它们的条纹光滑而清晰
也会有大大小小的蜘蛛结网
把树篱变成灰白色，像是用发网
裹住中了魔法不能动弹的女妖的头发
这些从死亡中生发出的事物
会代替沉默的死者说话
当死者不再能为自己辩护
当他们无法告诉别人
不要慌，他们已经死了
同样，如果没有的人来打扰
具体的人也会这样，微小却不渺小
不再有高处和低处，顺流和逆流
同温层孵化着所有的灰尘与心脏
2025年7月24日晨
Helen Pletts in her garden, 21st Jan 2025
Helen Pletts’ Self-determining Garden, dawn, 9th September 2025
Belinda Subraman features Ma Yongbo and Helen Pletts on GAS: Poetry, Art and Music:
https://gaspoertyartandmusic.blogspot.com/2025/11/four-pairs-of-response-poems-by-helen.html
Image : Belinda Subraman
In 2020 Belinda Subraman began an online show called GAS: Poetry, Art and Music which features interviews, readings, performances and art show in a video format available free:BelindaSubraman . She also runs a GAS Facebook group and GAS literary journal: GAS literary journal Belinda was named State of Texas Beat Poet Laureate (2023-2025) by the National Beat Poet Foundation. Recent publications include Maintenance 19, New Generation Beats, The Orchards, Voices: Mysticism, Prophecies & Marigolds, Never Cowboy: Selected Works, Books include Blue Rooms, Black Holes, White Lights and Left Hand Dharma and Full Moon Midnight.
Belinda is also a mixed media artist. Her art has been featured in Beyond Words, Epoch, Flora Fiction, Unlikely Stories, Eclectica, North of Oxford, Raw Art Review, El Paso News, Litterateur RW, Setu, Texlandia, The Bayou Review, Red Fez, Chrysalis, Ghost City, Maintenant 16 and many others. In November 2022 she won 2nd Place in the Sun Bowl Exhibit, the longest running art show in the Southwest (since 1949). She also won Best of Show in 2024 at the Crossland Gallery’s show called Precious Things.
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Specific photographic images/graphic art under individual copyright © to either Ma Yongbo 马永波 or Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
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