'Poppies in Translation' and Other Poems

Poppies in Translation

for Ioana Ieronim

In Romanian
the endless rows of poppies
are a living flame of love -
In English, we say we don't know
     about this love.
Do we dare to say
     their intensity is love?
In English, we say the poppies speak to us,
we say their intensity calls out to us -
and we say it's the urgency
of their call that moves us.
But why?
Why do we turn them into mouths?
About love we're not certain.
But it could be there, we say.
We can't exclude love, and yet,
...