Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Red

Red is the wine, red are the carnations.
Red is beautiful. Red flowers & red.
Color itself is beautiful.
The red color is red.
Red is the flag, red the poppy.
Red are the lips and the mouth.
Red is the reality and the
autumn. Red are many blue leaves.

Translated by Gary Sullivan.

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Rot

Rot ist der Wein, rot sind die Nelken.
Rot ist schön. Rote Blumen und rote.
Farbe dazu ist schön.
Die rote Farbe ist rot.
Rot ist die Fahne, rot der Mohn.
Rot sind die Lippen und der Mund.
Rot sind die Wirklichkeit und der
Herbst. Rot sind manche Blaue Blätter.

* * *

Notes

Most of the poems in the "color" series I translated alone. If Oya and I did discuss these poems during our meetings, most haven't changed since I first translated them prior to our collaboration. Any faults here, then, are my own.

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