Poppies in Translation

Description

Indonesia, South Africa, Estonia, Lithuania, Shetland, Nicaragua. Many worlds meet in these poems as nature dyes Sujata Bhatt & rsquo;s many languages with its own hues. The real merges with the surreal and the allegorical; certainties are undone in an open-ended quest. A Chinese cook ignores a predatory snake, a heart surgeon lives most intensely between operations, Gregor Samsa & rsquo;s sister proposes a different sort of metamorphosis, someone listens to the Holy Ghost sing, a woman hears her daughter & rsquo;s voice in birdsong, and the poppies in translation mutate according to the languages and histories they inhabit, ultimately persisting in a space beyond language. At times, language itself is injured by history: Bhatt reimagines the haunted undertow of postwar Germany as experienced by Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann. Meanwhile, the poppies are ever-present.;Front Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Acknowledgements; Contents; I: A Different Incarnation; Today; Truth is Mute; Another Muse; Redness; Schlafmohn, Blaumohn: Allerleilustblume; Six Poems for John Ashbery; Après un Rêve; L'Heure Exquise; My Dear Jungle; Dorothy's Summer Dream; Icarus; Poisson d'Avril; Between Hearts; Ars Poetica with Poppies and Birds; Conil de la Frontera, June 2012; Where a Scorpion Sleeps -- Tête Fantastique; Elephant and Boats; Underneath the Bridges; Some Days; bis wir kleine Fische geworden sind ; Florence; A German Education; Self-Portrait as a Soul. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Acknowledgements Contents I: A Different Incarnation Today Truth is Mute Another Muse Redness Schlafmohn, Blaumohn: Allerleilustblume Six Poems for John Ashbery Après un Rêve L'Heure Exquise My Dear Jungle Dorothy's Summer Dream Icarus Poisson d'Avril Between Hearts Ars Poetica with Poppies and Birds Conil de la Frontera, June 2012 Where a Scorpion Sleeps -- Tête Fantastique Elephant and Boats Underneath the Bridges Some Days bis wir kleine Fische geworden sind Florence A German Education Self-Portrait as a Soul. Another DaphneBlumenmuskel Reading Sappho, I am Reminded of Chickpeas Fragments for Lise Old Love Never Rusts Crear Poppies in Translation A Secret Viriditas: Hildegard and Jesus A Different Incarnation II: Where is Your Silver Dream? Always Choose the Jack of Hearts Gregor's Sister Speaks A Word Spoken on Land She Flies High The Tired Butterfly No Tiger is Plain Where is Your Silver Dream? You Have the Blue Oblique At First She Was a Butterfly Long Yellow Dresses Faux Fable, with Butterfly III: Magelang Morning Land of Many Birds Ornithologists Achill. In a Small BoatMagelang Morning Green At the Equator It's Our Reality A Chinese Cook 1980 A Witness Pet the Orphaned Lion Cubs As We Leave the Black Sea Palitana By the Railway Tracks, Ahmedabad Notes from India Sea Turtles Sisyphus Straight Through the Heart IV: A Captain's Confession His Brother's Knife Why Didn't You Sing Last Night? A Cup of Tea So Many Oaks A Captain's Confession Flight Such Sweet Cherries Where Were You Last Night? What Did You Drink? If I Weren't French He Speaks in Riddles You Never Know I Didn't Say That Can You Tell Me? A Cherry Tree in Her GardenThe Grapes are Ripe A Hearty Appetite Mr Ludwig Mr Matsumoto When Passions are Strong What Can You Tell Us? Notes.