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
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
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
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