Veno Taufer
Translator
on Lyrikline: 5 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
MORJE LISTA VAL ZA VALOM
slovenian | Veno Taufer
morje lista val za valom
šum čez kamne potem pene in nič
spomin je ki na breg nalaga vonj in vlago
val za valom listi knjige
med njimi alge vrči pesek kak mrlič
kdo jo lista jo sploh še piše
ne galeb ne ladja ne plavalec
nihče ki se obrača skoz ta blišč
ne ve je le črka pega znak ne bralec
je morda na nekem svetu že prebrana
in ta mrzli val ni več niti prhek list
je knjiga odvržena že razcefrana
ali pa je vsaka zgodba iz nje prepisovana
ker se godí a listanje je hipen švist
from: Še ode
Ljubljana : Cankarjeva založba,
Audio production: Študentska založba / Beletrina
THE SEA IS LEAFING THROUGH WAVE AFTER WAVE
english
the sea is leafing through wave after wave
a ripple of sound over stones then foam and nothing
a memory heaping moisture and scent on the shore
wave after wave the leaves of the book
among them weed jugs sand some corpse
who leafs through it, let alone writes it
no gull no ship no swimmer
no-one moving through this brilliance
knows he is just a letter, a speck, a sign not a reader
perhaps in some world it has already been read
and this wave is now no more than a brittle leaf
the book has already been thrown away in tatters
or every event in it has been transcribed
because it takes place but the leafing is a momentary rustle
KONCA SVETA PALIMPSEST
slovenian | Veno Taufer
valovi vihajo
pergament
konca sveta palimpsest
pen
potem voda
led potem
blato
mah že
nov svet
potem klici
ali s severa z
juga z vzhoda ali
zahoda globoko
v gošči sargase
šum
za soncem
kosem pada kosem kosem
pada papir scefran spet
tipam suh
skoz razpoko
ognja od mlečkov obžgan
from: Tercine za obtolčeno trobento
Ljubljana : Mladinska knjiga,
Audio production: Študentska založba / Beletrina
OF WORLD’S END PALIMPSEST
english
waves crease
parchment
of world’s end palimpsest
of foam
then water
ice then
mud
moss already
a new world
then cries
either from north
south or east
west deep
in the clotted sargasso
humming
behind the sun
flake falls flake flake
falls paper torn again
dry I grope my way
through crack
of fire burned by milksap
ORFEJ
slovenian | Veno Taufer
o pomladi poje pod cvetočo češnjo
v angelskih rokah drži note narobe
poje angelsko žalostno in vražje smešno
ženske in otroci ga gledajo brez zlobe
cvetovi se usipljejo na čelo odmeva mu v glavi
vrane čakajo da sadovi dozore
v grlu mu slina glas ustavi
med zobmi ženske in otroci že čutijo pečké
njegovo srce je ujeda
na nosu mu sedi v oči ga gleda
s sapicami perutnic hladi mu smrtno srago
njegovo srce je ujeda
izkljuje mu oči v lobanjo seda
v zatohli suši grebe s krempeljci za vlago
from: Jetnik prostosti
Ljubljana : Cankarjeva založba,
Audio production: Študentska založba / Beletrina
ORPHEUS
english
under a blossoming cherry tree he sings about spring
holds the music upside down in angelic hands
the song is seraphically sad a devilishly funny
women and children watch him without malice
petals flutter down on his brow there’s an echo in his head
crows wait for the fruit to ripen
too much spittle in his throat his voice is stifled
already the women and children can feel the seeds in their teeth
his heart is a bird of prey
it sits on his nose looks in his eyes
cooling his death’s sweat with its flapping wings
his heart is a bird of prey
it pecks out his eyes perches in his skull
its claws scratching in the dry remains for moisture
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