There Is A Motionless Tree

by Octavio Paz

There is a motionless tree
there is another that moves forward
               a river of trees
pounds at my chest
               The green swell
of good fortune

You are dressed in red
               you are
the seal of the burning year
carnal firebrand
               star of fruit
I eat the sun in you

               The hour rests
on a chasm of clarities

The birds are a handful of shadows
their beaks build the night
their wings sustain the day

Rooted at the light’s peak
between stability and vertigo
               you are
       the diaphanous balance.