Doppleresque Poem by Denis Mair

Doppleresque

Rating: 5.0


Red is the color of things flung apart
The gash;ambulance flashers;red alert;atomic fireball…
The light of understanding as it leaves us.

Ah, but blue is reassurance from the sky
White source of enlightenment approaching!

Red and blue, bled and rue, tumble in a great eye
Making images that move to a flickering whiteness.

Under neutral fluorescence
Provided by far dynamos
People with chalky or earth-toned flesh
Gather in rooms full of papers
Repeating their motions with care
So they may keep doing them together.
They fight holding actions for years
Then step out blinking
Into light of another day,
For some, inferno red;for some, the clear blue sky.

Leaving one place where the choice is made
Going to see how others decide
It is a red and blue of movement, a purple of understanding.
I'm going to put a fade-away note in my voice
Fitting accent for this new phase
Curving easily toward limit of silence.

..........


Here is a Chinese translation:

有红位移就有蓝位移[*1]

万物泼撒而成红
创伤、急救车闪灯、红色紧急令、原子弹的火球。。。
理解之光正离我们而去。

但是蓝是来自天上的慰藉。。。
灵觉的光源正向我们走近!

蓝与红,靛与彤,旋转在一只巨眼中
景色跳动在一闪闪的白光中。

借着中性的日光灯
由远方发电厂的巨臂提供
带着石灰或黄土肤色的人
在摆满文件的房间里集散,
细心重复着某一些动作
只是为了能够一起作下去。
他们边打边退,年复一年
然后眨着眼睛走出来
进入另一种时光,
有时是地狱一般红,有时是碧蓝的天空。

走开某个地方的选择
去看别人如何决定,
这是行动上的红与蓝,是理解上的深紫色。
我的声音应该加一种渐消的音调
适合这新阶段的口音
轻轻地弯向沉寂的极限。


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注(1):从地球观察太空,天文学家发现无论哪一方位的远星,都比近星显得红。这是因为远星不断地远离地球,使她们所发的光波被拉长。通过这种"都卜勒效应",天文学家可以断定,星星离地球越远,其远离地球的速度越快。天文学家根据此"红位移现象"已经证明整个宇宙处于膨胀的状态。笔者在这里用"红位移"比喻某一种光源远离人心。

Monday, October 5, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: contemplation
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Having read about the red shift in wavelength of light from receding stars, I tried to imagine a blue shift from an approaching source of light./ Thanks to Mei Danli for translating it into Chinese.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Cigeng Zhang 21 April 2016

您用红和蓝喻意生命、物源、自然甚至人性,是一首意义深远的诗。您的中文翻译很美。“万物泼撒而成红”, 第一句就出彩, 很别致。谢谢! You use Red and Blue as metaphors for life, material source, nature and human nature, so it is a profound poem. Your Chinese translation is very beautiful. I especially like the translation of the first line. Unique! Thank you.

0 0 Reply
Susan Williams 18 February 2016

Yes! Yes! Yes! I am a huge fan of inner rhymes, of playing with words like they're swirls of paint, of writing glimpses of life, and searching out and examining life through all the senses we have.

3 0 Reply
Bharati Nayak 06 November 2015

What a beautiful presentation of colors! How colors represent our different characters, moods, emotions and qualities.Awesome write.Thanks for sharing.

1 0 Reply
Kumarmani Mahakul 05 October 2015

White source of enlightenment approaches life. Wonderful sharing really...10

1 0 Reply
Denis Mair 05 October 2015

Maybe it is the blueness of Krishna.

0 0
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