English Original
bits of trellis
deep within its coils —
grandfather's vine
Eight Shades of Blue, 2007
Denis M. Garrison
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
棚架的碎片
深深嵌入藤蔓的蜷曲之中 —
祖父的藤蔓
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
棚架的碎片
深深嵌入藤蔓的蜷曲之中 —
祖父的藤蔓
Bio Sketch
Denis M. Garrison was born in Iowa, USA, and his childhood was spent in Japan, youth in Europe, Africa and western Pacific. His poetry’s widely published. Garrison’s print collections include First Winter Rain,Eight Shades of Blue, Hidden River, Sailor in the Rain and Other Poems, and Fire Blossoms.
The contrast between the rigid, manufactured “bits of trellis” in L1 and the organic, living “coils” of the vine in L2 is especially effective. In L3, “grandfather’s vine” serves as the poem’s emotional anchor, transforming what initially appears to be a simple observation of nature into a poignant meditation on time, memory, and legacy.
ReplyDeleteThe vine has literally swallowed the structure built to support it, suggesting that the grandfather’s legacy has outlasted—and perhaps even overwhelmed—the artificial constraints originally imposed upon it. The image thus brings together growth, decay, and inheritance in a remarkably compressed space.