Riddles In Green (& Hindi Translation) Poem by Denis Mair

RIDDLES IN GREEN

1
The central pillar is so solid and definite
The tier above consists of firm supports, each shaped like half of
an arch
Above that, tiers are hypothetical, each limber tip bowed by its own
weight
The furthest ends are held up and out toward the light
So delicate that the light shines into their interior
Though flat, there is depth in their will to gather light
They are a slow fountain expressing the quest for light
Where have I seen this shape? It looks familiar to me
As if it comes from somewhere inside me.

2
I sit on the stump of a chopped-down forest giant
It is hard to imagine the sturdy pillar that once stood here
Or to see a ghost canopy spreading above my head
The pillar's firmness was a virtue in the plan of a living thing
Now wrenched into a different scheme, it becomes a trial
To my posterior, an armless armchair of discomfort
Why does it seem familiar, and why did I gravitate to such a seat
As if I too had gone through a history of being chopped down?

3.
The gash in a steep mountainside in Chiapas
Is the big brown scream of patient lives that once anchored this
slope
Is the big brown scream of farmers who can't take products to market
Is the big brown scream of fields in the valley, now buried under mud
Further down the valley, a whole mountain buckled and slid into
basin land
Because green canopies were wrenched from dreams of gradual growth
Why do they seem so familiar, those howling machines with steel
teeth?
Now on the valley floor, smashed by boulders from a landslide they
set loose?

4
The samaras whirl down in bucketfuls I gathered as a child
Seeds with wings, or packets of possibility are otherwise spread
Into caches, to be forgotten by scrambling scavengers
Or to fall from lips that were licking sweet pulp
Most of the pips and nuts have to be squandered;
So only a few can lodge in special folds of earth
Why does it seem familiar, seeing all the living nuggets
Hurled with hopeful intent into the maw of void?

January 21,2015
Trivandrum, India

..........


Thanks to Wang Hao for translating this poem into Chinese:

绿中谜

1
中间的柱子结实而分明
上面一层有许多坚固的撑杆，每一根都像半段拱樑
再往上的几层只能靠猜想，每条柔软的末梢重得弯垂
最远的端头被捧向阳光
纤巧得可以让光洒到体内
虽然扁平，但收取光的愿望有一种厚度
它们是缓缓的喷泉在吐露对光的希求
我在哪儿见过这形状？十分眼熟
就像是来自我体内某处。
2
被砍倒的林中巨人，我坐在它桩子上
无法想象强健的柱子曾经立在这儿
无法看到幽灵般的冠层在我头顶上伸展
柱子的坚韧在一个生命体的蓝图中曾经是种美德
现在被塞进另一个图谋，它成了
对我臀部的考验，成了折磨人的没扶手的扶手椅
为什么它显得眼熟？我为什会不知不觉地落到这椅子上
就好像我也曾被砍倒？
3.
墨西哥的恰帕斯省，险峻的山坡上一道深长的刮痕
是尖厉的棕色喊叫——来自曾经缚紧这山坡的隐忍的生命
是尖厉的棕色喊叫——来自无法把产品运到市场的农夫
是尖厉的棕色喊叫——来自此刻深埋在泥浆下面的谷地
山谷里，一座山最近塌陷，滑进盆地
因为绿色冠层被从缓缓生长的梦想中扯出来
它们为什么眼熟？——那些嚎叫的钢牙机器
此刻在谷底，被它们释放的巨石砸碎。
4
我儿时积攒的一桶桶翅果，飞旋而下
长翅膀的种子，或以其他方式被传播的"可能性小包儿"
被拾荒的小动物藏入旮旯，接着被忘在脑后
或者从舔舐甜瓤的唇边落下
大部分籽实和果仁都要被挥霍；
只有极少数可以落进土层的特殊褶皱
为什么这看起来很眼熟——看到所有活生生的小片儿
在满怀期待的意图中，被抛进空无的喉咙？

2015年1月21日
印度特里凡得琅
王浩 译