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Hey Peter I see what you mean -puffed sounds bit puffy -how about 'steeled against the cold' determination -more of a hard defying sound Cheers from patrick Minus a tooth and finger tip for his birthday!! Ps not read all emails someone may have a better suggestion -----Original Message----- From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Cudmore Sent: 14 March 2006 05:23 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: help--translation query I like hinchada. Somehow sounds more important than fluffing. Not much help to a translator, tho there must be a route back to Latin, or to Greek, and then forwards to English. P > > >> My problem was that all of the possibilities I could think of > > >> sounded so silly, and there's no silliness to the image in the > > >> poem. And I wanted something brief, as in the spanish the entire > > >> parenthetical expression is the word hinchada. Alas. > > >> > > >> Here it is. It's by José Kozer. > > >> > > >> > > >> THE TREE OF LIFE > > >> > > >> The Greater Antilles began to appear at the sound of a > pigeon¹s flight. > > >> > > >> The flight fashioned the contours of an island of the Greater > > >> Antilles; the island > > >> now of hurricanes, guásima trees, the mother tongue > > >> finally done with naming those things at their hearts > > >> unsoundable. > > >> > > >> How else could one explain that the act of sealing the > window would > > >> transpose > > >> from semi-darkness to a trackless light the > snow covering > > >> the length and width of the nation, let the raven be left > > >> alone in the midst of the squall, the light > renders violet > > >> (within it) the fruit at the foot of the raven > (its feathers > > >> puffed out against the cold), hunger only hunger could > > >> convince it to pick the skin from some animal, tossing it > > >> side to side across its shadow. > > >