Ten Questions in the Andrews Forest
¿Cuál es el pájaro amarillo que llena el nido de limones?
Which is the yellow bird that fills its nest with lemons?
– Pablo Neruda, El libro de las preguntas (1974)
Why are rough-skinned newts so cute
and so laced with poison?
Do the vine maples know how their October red
pierces the green heart of the forest?
In whose language does the stream sing
her love songs to the forest?
And which owl language do they use when making love,
the barred and the spotted?
If I make it to the high ridge on Lookout Mountain,
what will I see?
Why does the lobster mushroom show off an even brighter orange
than its eponymous crustacean?
If I were blind
would I still marvel at this green?
How can a forest
hide in the trees?
Did the root thank
the lichen in the canopy of the tree?
With lifetimes more questions still to ask here,
can anyone talk seriously about “terraforming” Mars?
See how Byers answers these questions in “Ten Questions in the Andrews Forest.”
