Michael Scammell 
Translator

on Lyrikline: 2 poems translated

from: slovenian to: english

Original

Translation

SARAJEVO

slovenian | Veno Taufer

v knjižnici že dva tisoč let knjige načrti
v plamenih liste odnaša iz spomina veter
črke in strani zleplja kri v otrplih prstih

drhte peresa ko se prisluškujočim oglašajo sfere
le še s komentarji se upirajo smrti
stoletje drveč za strelom v srce od odmeva zadeto v sarajevu

tone z eno tistih ladij s seznama v spevu
prvine razpadajo voda mezi v kužno sparino
plameni kamnijo v pepel in mraz

kamen prhni v prah blato ga golta v globino
scefran zrak vsesavajo ostudne ustnice špranj
na krajih kjer so rasla drevesa jok je ponižan v slino

stoletje drveč za strelom v srce od odmeva zadeto v sarajevu
tone z eno tistih ladij s seznama v spevu
oslepljeni v razstrelitvi letnih časov preživeli pisarji

brskajo za okruški črk in cunjami pergamentov
zapisali bodo kratko kar so že stari
ponavljali v strašni skrivnosti fragmentov

za preživetje beseda se s smrtnim mesom spari
stoletje drveč za strelom v srce od odmeva zadeto v sarajevu
tone z eno tistih ladij s seznama v spevu

                                               november 1993

© Veno Taufer
from: Še ode
Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba,
Audio production: Študentska založba / Beletrina

SARAJEVO

english

two thousand years in the library books maps
in flames the wind carries leaves away from memory
blood sticks letters and pages in stiff fingers

pens tremble as the sound of the spheres reaches the listening
who have only commentaries to resist death
the age pursuing the shot to the heart struck by the echo in sarajevo

sinks with one of those ships in that list in the poem
the elements crumble water disperses into noxious vapours
flames petrify to ash and cold

stone rots to dust swallowed by mud in the depths
the disgusting lips of cracks suck the shredded air
where trees grew the wailing is degraded to drooling

the age pursuing the shot to the heart struck by the echo in sarajevo
sinks with one of those ships in that list in the poem
surviving scribes blinded by the seasons' explosion

scrabble for shards of letters and scraps of parchment
to write down in brief what the ancients already
repeated in the terrible mystery of their fragments

the word couples with mortal flesh to survive
the age pursuing the shot to the heart struck by the echo in sarajevo
sinks with one of those ships in that list in the poem


                                           November 1993

Translated by Michael Scammell & author

KONCERT V NARAVI

slovenian | Veno Taufer

ona s pločevinastimi nogami
s peščenimi urami v ustih akvarijem v glavi
on z vsemi stopnišči mesta na rami
pod roko s srcem ki se lahko navije in ustavi

odpreta knjigo in iščeta pot
kjer je nebo voda in cvetni log
kjer ni znojnega papirja in tipajočih oči
ampak kot v kinu lepo ptič žvrgoli

ona razstavi noge akvarij odkrije
in začne loviti ribe
on se na stopnišča povzpne in srce navije

pesek ur goli telesi zalije
ribe švignejo skoz njune žile
v krvavih škrgah skrivajo mračne nagibe

© Veno Taufer
from: Jetnik prostosti
Ljubljana : Cankarjeva založba,
Audio production: Študentska založba / Beletrina

OPEN-AIR CONCERT

english

she with tin legs
hourglass in mouth aquarium in her head
he with all the towns’ staircases on his back
under his arm a heart that can be wound up or stopped

they open a book and look for a road
to water sky and blossoming grove
where there is no sweating paper no fumbling eyes
where like in a B picture pretty birds twitter

she opens her legs unlocks the aquarium
starts hunting for fish
he climbs the stairs and winds his heart up

nude bodies drown in sand from the hourglass
fish flick through their veins
with dark designs concealed in their bloody gills

Translated by Michael Scammell & author