illustration : ‘Jackdaw’ by Amber Pletts 2025
rare eagle joining a thermal on release 罕见的老鹰在放飞时加入了热气流
Warm me, I am fragile. Moments freeze me
to this singing earth. I need the breath
of warm stones to lift me;
the grey breath of longing and memory.
I have been caught in thin air, so rarified,
my cold blood vessels might ossify;
stringing-thin themselves, striving
to pull my dull heart from the ground.
That unfolding sound is my great wingspan
opening like a feathered drawer, expanding.
Lightness transforms me; lifting me
as I curl up my toes into two ragged fists.
7th September 2024
Response Poetry By Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
Response Poetry Translated By Ma Yongbo 马永波
罕见的老鹰在放飞时加入了热气流 rare eagle joining a thermal on release
温暖我吧,我是脆弱的。瞬间冻结了我
在这吟唱的大地上。我需要
温暖的石头的呼吸来托举我;
那灰色的、充满渴望与记忆的呼吸。
我曾被困在稀薄的空气中,如此纯净,
我冰冷的血管几乎僵硬了;
变得和丝线一般纤细,拼命
想把我沉闷的心从地上拉起。
那是我巨大的翅膀展开的声音
像打开一个羽毛的抽屉,延伸。
轻盈改变了我;托举我
当我将脚趾蜷缩成两只破碎的拳头。
2024年9月7日
miracle 奇迹
In the mountain hollow, two black-and-white birds
drift steadily on invisible air currents
then surge suddenly beyond the mountain’s shoulders.
Their crooked wings, touch with a tentative brush
before snapping apart, folding tight
like soldiers standing to attention; statues seized
by sudden paralysis. They plummet
side by side, skim the river’s skin
before rising, wings unfurling again
each disappearing behind opposite slopes,
vanishing swift as breath on glass.
7th April 2025
Response Poetry By Ma Yongbo 马永波
Response Poetry Translated by Ma Yongbo 马永波 and Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨
奇迹 miracle 马永波
山坳里,两只黑白两色的大鸟
随着看不见的气流平稳飘浮
随后突然升高,超出山肩
翅膀弯曲,试探地触碰一下
又倏地分开,收拢,像立正的士兵
或者瞬间瘫痪的雕像,并排向下栽去
接近河面才掠水而起,重新舒展羽翼
分别从山的两侧飞过去,迅速消失
2025年4月7日
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Beautiful words, Helen and Yongbo!
Comment by Barbara Leonhard on 13 April, 2025 at 2:11 pm