Parrots

American Poetry Review, The, Mar/Apr 2008 by Nordbrandt, Henrik

Parrots turn red when they fly south

blue when they fly north

yellow when they fly east

and green, flying west.

Parrots come from the deep woods

and like therefore to sit

motionless

over the heads of sleeping zebras' beds.

But they breed in the rock tombs

high, high up

from where you can only see the ocean

with eyes sealed by gold coins

that have known millions of eyes

so the dead can slip out

to where the waves' froth meets the mountain tops' snow.

HENRIK NORDBRANDT has published nearly forty books, including more than twenty volumes of poetry. His many awards include the Danish Academy's top prize, a life-long award from the Danish Art Foundation and, in 2000, the Literature Prize of the Nordic Council-which is the highest literary honor accorded among the five Nordic countries. The poems published here for the first time in English translation originally appeared in Danish in 2006 in the Copenhagen-based literary journal, Den Bla Port (The Blue Gate). Mr. Nordbrandt's collection from 2004, Sea Dragon, is currently being translated into English. In 2007, another collection, Visiting Hours, appeared in Danish.

THOMAS E. KENNEDY'S books include, most recently, The Copenhagen Quartet (2002-2005), four independent novels about the souls and seasons of the Danish capital; two essay collections: Realism af Other Illusions: Essays on the Craft of Fiction (2002) and The Literary Traveler (2005), co-written with Walter Cummins; and in 2007 a novel, A Passion in the Desert (Wordcraft), and a story collection. Cast Upon the Day (Hopewell). He teaches in the MFA Program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Kennedy has lived in Denmark for the past 30 years.