Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver

Thank you, Yongbo Ma, for submitting our collaboration to the first issue of Poetry Appreciation in 2025. Published by Changjiang Literature & Art Press in December 2025, ISBN 978-7-5702-4302-0. I call Yongbo the World’s Poet Laureate because he translates many poets’ works. I’m certain they are all as grateful as I am. Note his impressive bio below.

The two poems are “Ode to the Hull of a Mud Turtle” and “Ode to a Yard”.

Ode to the Hull of a Mud Turtle

Looking past the shell we found on the creek bed -
from the mud turtle wedged between two branches
under storm-ravaged waters, struggling
to get to the surface for a breath, his hulk
now resting on a dining room window sill -
I view the patio.

A bedraggled fence
stained by rain and life left wild.
The rim, scraped by squirrels and raccoons.
Birds perch there waiting for a spot
on an upraised corner of the patio floor,
where I spread bird seed each morning
for the wrens, a pair of mourning doves,
and cardinals, but the squabbling squirrels,
steal the sunflower seeds and scatter the birds.

Ivy sneaks between the tainted boards
and wraps around the trunk
of a 9-foot Norfolk Pine,
hauled there on a dolly and now
standing in a pot of fresh soil,
where squirrels bury seeds and nuts,
unaware that the pine will be rescued
back to the dining room before first frost.

The squirrels scuttle up the pine tree’s trunk to the fence rim,
back and forth from the redbud branch
stretching to the roof on the east side of the patio
to their pan of sunflower seeds,
anchored to a stand outside the fence on the west side.

Next to the Norfolk Pine,
an Umbrella Tree stretches her palms 
out to the sun, grateful for one more summer outside
She, too, is blessed with a bigger pot
and is no longer tethered to the pine
to prevent a fall.

Tonight, the next generation of raccoons
will finish the water served daily,
then scurry along the fence rim
to the squirrels’ feeding station
to feast on shucks, then up to the roof,
where the entry through the chimney
is now blocked off.

Last year, we rescued a kit,
who miscalculated her leap –
or was possibly pushed –
from the squirrels’ table, toppling into the gap
between the gate and the fence post,
her body draped like a rag doll between crib slats.

I hold the turtle shell,
imbued with these stories
in the cipher on its carapace,
mirroring the patio’s stonework symmetry;
the hulk, housing memories of home.
the underbelly, prophetic design:

All life is stubborn with surprise,
awaiting its winding journey
to the constellations.

The Chinese translation of "Ode to the Hull of a Mud Turtle" by Yongbo Ma...

献给一只泥龟壳的颂歌
越过我们在溪床上发现的龟壳
我眺望庭院——
那泥龟曾在风暴肆虐的水下
夹在两根树枝之间，挣扎着
要浮出水面喘息一下；如今它的躯体
安卧在餐厅窗台上。
一座破败的栅栏
被雨水和任其自然的时光染色。
顶端，被松鼠和浣熊刮擦。
鸟儿栖息在那里，等待位置，
在庭院地面一处高出的角落，
我每天早晨撒上鸟食，
喂给鹪鹩、一对哀鸽
还有红雀，可是争斗的松鼠们
偷走了葵花籽，惊散了鸟群。
常春藤偷偷爬过脏污的木板，
缠绕在一棵九英尺高的
诺福克松树的树干上，
那是用推车拖来的，如今
扎根于一盆新鲜的土壤中，
松鼠在里面埋了种子和坚果，
浑然不知这松树会在霜降前
被搬回餐厅里。

松鼠窜上这松树的树干，奔向栅栏顶，
又在庭院东侧伸向屋顶的紫荆枝间
来回跳跃，直奔到西侧栅栏外
固定在架子上的装有葵花籽的盘子。

在诺福克松旁边，
一棵伞树向太阳伸出手掌，
感激又一个夏季的户外生活。
它也幸运地有了一个更大的花盆
不再被拴在松树上以防翻倒。

今晚，新一代的浣熊
将喝光每天供应的清水，
然后沿着栅栏顶
溜到松鼠的喂食站
去啃食玉米壳，再爬上屋顶，
那里通向烟囱的入口
现在已被封闭。

去年，我们救下了一只浣熊幼崽，
它算错了自己跳跃的能力——
或者可能是被推下去的——
它从松鼠的餐桌上掉了下去，
翻进了门和栅栏柱子之间的缝隙，
像挂在摇篮栏杆间的一只布娃娃。

我握着这块泥龟壳，
它蕴含着这些故事
壳背上的密
映照着庭院砌石的对称形状；
这残骸，承载着家的记忆；
这下腹，有预言未来的图案：

所有的生命都执著于意外的惊喜，
等待自己曲折的旅程
通向星座的彼岸。


Ode to a Yard

The backyard, now a room.
The teeming branches
of the pin oak, red bud,
and elm stretch into a canopy.
We leave part of the lawn alone
to sow a meadow. Violets, clover,
dandelions. Tall patches of native grass
go to seed. Periwinkle blushes
on the yard’s borders.
Gardening tools laze about
atop a disheveled log.
The garden soil, dry, still not tilled.
The metal spikes that held last year’s tomatoes linger,
supporting withered stalks.
Clustering around the far edge,
a thick crop of never-fail oregano.
Elsewhere, batches of volunteer kale
surprise us.
On the garden's edge, a hose lies coiled
ready to strike.
Inside on a counter, seed packets sit
waiting for soil and sun.

Yongbo's Chinese translation of "Ode to a Yard"....

庭院颂
后院，如今成了一个房间。
繁茂的枝条
栎树，红木，榆树，
伸展成一顶华盖。
我们留出一块地方，
栽植出一片草坪。紫罗兰，三叶草，
蒲公英。高高的本地草
结出种子。长春花灌木
蔓延到庭院边缘。
园艺工具闲置在
一截粗糙的原木上。
花园里的土干燥，尚未翻耕。
去年的金属支架还立着，
支撑着枯萎的番茄茎秆。
在远处角落成堆的，
是浓密不败的牛至。
其他地方，一丛丛意外生长的羽衣甘蓝
让我们惊喜。
花园边缘，一条水管盘成圈
蓄势待发。
屋内的柜台上，一包包种子，
在静静等待着土壤与阳光。

Ma Yongbo 马永波 (b1964), https://mayongbopoetry.wordpress.com/ has 7 published poetry collections. Ma Yongbo 马永波 is listed among the 100 famous contemporary Chinese poets since the 1920s. He is the leading poet-translator of Western postmodern poetry on the mainland, including works by Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams, and Ashbery. His translation of Moby Dick, has sold over half a million copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology. Collected Poems of Ma Yongbo (four volumes, Eastern Publishing Centre, 2024), comprising 1600 poems, celebrates 40 years of writing poetry.