Mario Suško 
Translator

on Lyrikline: 6 poems translated

from: croatian to: english

Original

Translation

Vježbe

croatian | Zvonko Maković

i otvoren prozor?
            - i otvoren prozor.
i stvari koje vidiš kroz otvoren prozor?
            - i stvari koje vidim kroz otvoren prozor.
i stvari koje ostaju ispred otvorenog prozora?
            - i stvari koje ostaju ispred otvorenog prozora.
i stvari koje ne ulaze u okvir otvorenog prozora?
            - i stvari koje ne ulaze u okvir otvorenog prozora.
i stvari koje možeš dotaknuti jer stoje ispred
otvorenog prozora?
            - i stvari koje mogu dotaknuti jer stoje ispred
            otvorenog prozora.
i stvari koje su nedohvatljive jer stoje iza
otvorenog prozora?
            - i stvari koje su nedohvatljive jer stoje iza
                 otvorenog prozora.
i stvari koje su blizu i stvari koje su daleko?
            - i stvari koje su blizu i stvari koje su daleko.
i otvoren prozor?
            - i otvoren prozor.
i prozor koji nije otvoren, ali bi mogao biti otvoren?
            - i prozor koji nije otvoren, ali bi mogao biti
            otvoren.
i otvoren prozor?
            - niti je prozor otvoren, niti bi mogao biti
            otvoren.
i prozor koji je ispred tebe?
            - niti je prozor ispred mene, niti sam ja iza
            prozora.
            niti je prozor otvoren, niti sam vidio otvoren
            prozor.
            niti sam vidio ikakve stvari iza otvorenog
            prozora.
            niti sam mogao bilo kakve stvari doticati
            ispred otvorenog prozora, jer prozor niti je
            bio otvoren, niti je bio prozor.
            konačno, nisam ni htio spominjati otvoren
            prozor.
i otvoren prozor?
            - i otvoren prozor.

© Zvonko Maković
from: Činjenice
Audio production: 2006, Literaturwerkstatt Berlin

Exercises

english

and an open window?
    -and an open window.
 and things you see through that open window?
    -and things I see through that open window.
 and the things that are in front of that open window?
    -and the things that are in front of that open window.
 and the things that do not fit into that open window frame?
    - and the things that do not fit into that open window frame.
 and the things you can touch because they are in front of
                                that open window?
    -and the things I can touch because they are in front of
                                that open window.
 and the things that are unreachable because they are beyond
                                that open window?
    -and the things that are unreachable because they are beyond
                                that open window.
 and the things that are near and the things that are far?
    -and the things that are near and the things that are far.
 and the open window?
    -and the open window.
 and a window that's not but could be open?
    -and a window that's not but could be open.
 and an open window?
    -the window is not, and could not be, open.
 and a window that's in front of you?
    -neither is the window open, nor am I behind it.
     neither is the window open, nor have I seen the open window.
     nor have I seen anything behind the open window.
     nor could I have touched anything in front of the open
     window, for neither the window was open, nor ever
     a window.
     finally, I did not even want to mention an open window.
 and an open window?
    -and an open window.

Translated by Mario Suško

Tragovi

croatian | Zvonko Maković

kad je rekao bezvoljnost, znao je da je to nešto
što ga se ovog časa nije ticalo.
pitao se zašto je izgovorio tu riječ
i drugo pitanje koje je postavio
odnosilo se na riječ
nešto iz prve rečenice.
riječ nešto još je više udaljavala od riječi bezvoljnost
koja mu se, tog časa, činila stranom.
pitao se
čemu uopćavanje,
čemu to nešto,
zašto nije izrekao neku drugu riječ
na koju bi se bezvoljnost primjereno mogla osloniti,
koja bi je objasnila.
neka druga riječ iz prethodne rečenice,
još je više u općenitost,
mislio je i nastojao to glasno izreći.
bezvoljnost je nešto što se
njega ticalo,
nešto što ga se nekoć ticalo i
nešto što ga se ipak ticalo onog časa kad je
izgovorio tu riječ.
nastojao se sjetiti nečega uz što bi vezao rieč bezvoljnost
i što ga se nekoć ticalo.
nekoć i jest i nije pripadalo njemu,
mislio je i to izgovorio u trećem licu jednine.
nekoć nije pripadalo njemu,
već nekom drugom koji je to treće lice jednine.
sjetio se nekoga na koga bi se moglo odnositi nešto
što bi se zvalo bezvoljnost.
kad je pomislio na toga, pomislio je nije li se njega
sjetio samo zato što on odgovara tipu bezvoljnika,
tipu iz rječnika sa slikama u kojemu su nacrtane
figure i ispod toga ispisane riječi.
figura bezvoljnika bila bi fotografija onoga i
riječ bezvoljnost bila bi pisana velikim početnim slovom.
pitao se
nije li nekoć vidio rječnik sličan ovome i,
ako ga je vidio,
je li u njemu bila riječ BEZVOLJNOST.
nije mogao pouzdano tvrditi da je nekoć vidio
rječnik u kojemu je ispod sličice bila
ispisana riječ BEZVOLJNOST.
nije mogao pouzdano tvrditi da je osoba,
na koju je pomislio onda kad je glasno
izgovorio rečenicu nekoć i jest i nije pripadalo njemu
ista osoba na koju sada pomišlja
i zamišlja njezino lice u rječniku sa slikama.
nije sasvim pouzdano mogao tvrditi
da se ijednoj osobi na koju sada pomišlja
može nalijepiti etiketa «bezvoljnost».
nije sasvim pouzdano mogao tvrditi
da sada pomišlja na ijednu osobu
koju bi mogao detaljnije opisati,
i kojoj bi išta namijenio pa da, sjetivši je se,
ustvrdi nekoć i jest i nije pripadalo njemu.
«nekoć i jest i nije pripadalo njemu» samo je
rećenica do koje je došao razgrađujući
riječ BEZVOLJNOST.
riječ «bezvoljnost» samo je «nešto» što ga se ovog
časa nije ticalo.

© Zvonko Maković
from: Strah
Audio production: 2006, Literaturwerkstatt Berlin

Prints

english

when he said listlessness, he knew it was something
he was not concerned with that moment,
he asked himself why he had uttered that word,
and the second question he raised
referred to the word
something in the first sentence.
the word something was even farther away from listlessness
which, at that moment, seemed unknown to him.
he asked himself
whatfor this generalization,
this something.
why he didn't use another word
which listlessness could rely on adequately,
explain it.
another word from the preceding sentence
sounded even more generalized,
he thought and tried to say that out loud.
listlessness was something
that concerned him.
something that once had concerned him and
something that still concerned him
at the moment he uttered that word.
he tried to remember something he could connect
listlessness to, something that once concerned him.
once did and did not belong to him,
he thought and said it using the third person singular.
once did not belong to him
but someone else that was the third person singular.
he remembered someone this something
called listlessness could relate to.
when he thought of him, he mused whether he remembered
him only because he related to those listless characters
from an illustrated dictionary, with figures
drawn and the words written underneath.
the figure of a listless man would be his picture
and the word listlessness written with capital letters.
he asked himself
whether he had already seen a similar dictionary,
and, if he had,
whether it contained the word LISTLESSNESS.
he couldn't maintain he had seen
a dictionary with a little picture
and the word LISTLESSNESS written underneath.
he couldn't maintain that the person
he thought of when he had said out loud
the sentence once it both did and did not belong to him
was the same person he thought of now
and imagined his face in the illustrated dictionary.
he couldn't maintain that any person
he thought of now could be marked
with a label "listlessness."
he couldn't truly maintain
he was now thinking of anybody
he could describe in more detail
and to whom he could have left anything to ascertain,
upon remembering, once it both did and did not belong to him.
"once it both did and did not belong to him" is
just a sentence which he arrived at
decomposing the word LISTLESSNESS.
the word "listlessness" was only "something"
he was not concerned with at that moment.

Translated by Mario Suško

sintaksa koze, sintaksa mjesečine

croatian | Branko Čegec

Trijumf brojki silazi s ekrana.
Posustajem, nemoćan i nijem.
Kao da sam obnovljen
u zakasnjeloj filozofiji jezika i vina
pristajem na svaki
patetični slalom
iako je djevojčica s brojčanika
zaspala u naručju besanih noći
i ribarskih prigovaranja
iz kojih ljepljivo curi
idilična povijest književnosti.
Esej je zatim
neprobojan krug opasnosti:
pristižu nova objašnjenja
za potrošene riječi, za izlazne slike
i kadrove iz posuđena filma:
tutanj zrakoplova i prašina podzemlja
susret su zabilježen na tvome vlažnom dlanu:
opet si lijepa, radosna, pitoma
otpuzala u miris moje kože,
zanosno solarno ljepilo
iz kojeg nema povratka, u kojem nitko nije isti,
za koje saznajemo iz novina
i predaja zabludjelih leptira
na prozoru što nestaje
u mrak dubok, predubok.
Kažem ti: uđi u moje ogledalo
i primi me u hladno sjećanje
da se ugrijem, da zaspim nasmijan
kao da sam zaborav,
mirno more i Polić Kamov
na lutriji u Barceloni.
Mašu mi brodovi i klaviristice
dugih nogu i laserskih prstiju
kao u svakom pohodu
inovacija i smrti:
stereo tutnji još jedino ritam tvog dodira,
slijedi plahi bljesak kože na mjesečini
pored nasipa, u proljeće,
kada su vjetrovi još posve mladi,
a noć ne prestaje, kao ni rukopis,
ispisujuć’ elipsu malog slova  i
u nedogled.

from: Ekrani praznine
Audio production: Tomislav Krevzelj, Udruga radio mreza 2011

The Syntax of Skin, the Sintax of Moonlight

english

The triumph of numbers comes off the screen.
I slow down, powerless and silent.
As if renewed
in the belated philosophy of language and wine
I acquiesce
to every pathetic slalom
though the girl from the dial
fell asleep in the arms of insomniac nights
and fishermen's objections
the idyllic history of literature
oozes stickily from.

An essay is then
the impenetrable circle of danger:
new explanations arrive
for spent words, for exiting images
and frames from a borrowed movie:
the plane's boom and the cellar's dust
left their mark on your damp palm:
lovely, joyous, and tame
you crawled again into the odor of my skin,
the enchanted solar glue
from which there is no return, where nobody's the same,
which we find about from the newspapers
and the legends of deluded butterflies
on the window that vanishes
in the deep, fathomless dark.

I tell you: get into my mirror
and take me in the cold remembrance
to warm up, to fall asleep smiling
as if I were oblivion,
the calm sea, and Polic Kamov
in the lottery in Barcelona.
Ships and lady pianists
with long legs and laser fingers
wave to me as in every campaign
of innovations and death:
the stereo booms only with the rhythm of your touch,
followed by a tremulous flash of the skin
in the moonlight near the embankment, in spring,
when the winds are still very young,
and the night doesn't end, just like a manuscript,
writing out the ellipsis of a small letter "l"
to infinity.

1992

Translated by Mario Suško

Porgy & Bess Band

croatian | Zvonko Maković

lagati, zašto ne. ionako su riječi
proizvoljne; riječi koje nisu stvari,
riječi koje nisu riječi. lagati, zašto ne:
riječima. ustajem i prilazim stolu: nisam ustao,
stolu nisam prišao. prekidač radio aparata
ne može van iskočiti: ako ga se pritisne, onda da.

riječi i riječi, lagati i ne-lagati. zašto ne bih
lagao? zašto ne bih izgovarao bilo koju riječ
koja me trenutno opsjeda i ne mislim na nju -
za izgovora - sasvim sigurno ne mislim. zašto:
govoriti (ne želim reći) i govoriti a ne
govoriti. "govoriti" u sva tri slučaja je laž.

lagati, zašto ne lagati. počeo sam izgovarati
i već sam slagao: perfekt nije prezent.
prezent je perfekt. riječi nisu riječi. riječi
su riječi. lagati, zašto ne? podesio sam usta
kao da cu reći: tavan. nisam rekao, usta su
prevarena: lagati, zašto ne. lagati riječi,

riječi slágati u laž. obrnuti ih. popljuvati,
izigravajući nježnost. riječi nisu riječi.
kopile usnice, dim usne šupljine, talog
brbljive memorije: riječi (lagati, zašto ne?)
obrtati s jezika na zube, sa zuba na désni,
onda u kovitlac: lagati, zašto ne?

© Zvonko Maković
from: Komete, komete...
Audio production: 2006, Literaturwerkstatt Berlin

Porgy & Bess Band

english

to lie, why not, words are
arbitrary anyway; words which aren't things,
words which aren't words. to lie, why not:
through words. I get up, go to the table: I didn't get up,
didn't come to the table, a radio switch
cannot pop out: if it's pressed, well, then yes.

words are words, to lie and not to lie. why
shouldn't I lie? why shouldn't I utter any word
that obsesses me and not think of it -
while uttering it - absolutely not think of it. why:
speak (I do not want to) and speak and not
speak. in all three cases to "speak" is a lie.

to lie, why not lie. I started to say something
and already lied: the past perfect is not the present.
the present is the past perfect. words are not words.
words are words. to lie, why not? I positioned
my lips as if to say: attic. but I didn't, my mouth
got cheated: to lie, why not. to lie to words,

to do words into a lie. turn them around. spit
on them. acting out tenderness. words aren't words.
the bastard of a lip. the smoke of an oral cavity,
residue of a blabbing memory. words (to lie, why not?)
to transfer them from a tongue to teeth, then to a palate,
finally to a whirl: to lie, why not?

Translated by Mario Suško

Infinitiv

croatian | Zvonko Maković

Kad se stvari pomaknu,
ostanu samo sjene.
Šutnja iz prinude,
hladan zrak.
Rekao sam ti da sam ruža, dašak noći
što dopire do nosnica.
Rekao sam: stvari, dobro usklađeni
odnosi. Rekao sam: sjene,
višak ljubavi koja nekoć
bijaše tek nepoznata žudnja.
Mali, nedodirljivi plamenovi
dotiču moje srce – bez prestanka,
bez jasnog razloga.
Kao opala latica, kao netko zagledan
u krijesnicu mirisne lipanjske noći,
kao nečujna praznina iza čvrsto
stisnutih usana.
U vlažnom pogledu
to se uljuljkuju naši slabo prikriveni
dokazi,
naše jedva još nade,
jedva prešutne izdaje.
Blaženi dodiri koji su sada tek
puko trajanje.
Među sjenama skrivaju se druge sjene.
Pomak će lako iznuditi drugi pomak.
Ja sam šutnja:
skrivena slova oblažu moje čelo.

© Zvonko Maković
from: Prah
Audio production: 2006, Literaturwerkstatt Berlin

The Infinitive

english

When things are shifted,
only shadows remain.
Enforced silence,
cold air.
I told you I was a rose, a whiff of night
reaching the nostrils.
I said: things, well coordinated
relationships. I said: shadows,
the excess of love that once
was only an unknown desire.
Small, untouchable flames
touch my heart - incessantly,
with no distinct reason.
Like a fallen petal, like someone
staring at a glow-worm on a fragrant June night,
like an inaudible emptiness
behind tightly shut
lips.
There in that wet gaze
our poorly concealed evidence
lies dormant,
our meager hopes,
hardly tacit betrayals.
Blessed touches that are now
a sheer passage of time.
Other shadows hide among shadows.
A shift will easily trigger another shift..
I am the silence:
hidden letters cover my forehead.

Translated by Mario Suško

Američki Prijatelj

croatian | Zvonko Maković

Sve nastojim zabilježiti.
Kaže: i pokrete želim zabilježiti.
I tragove. I glasove kako ne bi
izvjetrili. Onda polako otvaram
svoje bilježnice, svoje knjige polako
otvaram i ne moram se ničemu čuditi.
Otupjeli su mi osjećaji.
Kajem se i tražim sukrivca za ove
nedaće. Ove glupe natikače nabavila
sam prošle jeseni. Bilo je to već zapisano,
a gospođa koja je pogledala na sat,
zadigavši rukav ogrtača,
jednom je rekla rečenicu
«ove glupe natikače...»
zabacivši kosu s čela i pri tom mislila
s kojom je lakoćom Brenda Lee koračala
na svojim visokim potpeticama što
su pojačavale svaki mišić njezinih
listova, njezinih bedara...
I Brenda Lee, pomislio je,
podizala je visoko ruku kako bi joj
grudi u profilu dominirale kadrom.


Netko je posrnuo prelazeći cestu
i tramvaj je počeo kočiti.
Netko je, jutros, kupio novine
i s osjećajem gađenja pročitao
imena umrlih.
Bezimena lica nalaze se zaštićena
staklom tramvajskog prozora
i njihovi se pokreti doimaju nestvarnima.
Njihovi izrazi govore o upravo nedokučivom.
Nalazio je imena porazbacana,
ali sasvim proizvoljno,
na stranicama džepnog adresara.
Kada je to pokušao dovesti u red,
netko je upravo kriknuo i taj je krik
pripisao prvom imenu na koje je naišao.
Dotičnog znanca zamišljao je kao samoubojicu
koji skače s mosta.
Izbrisao sam tvoje ime iz adresara,
rekao je i na licu mu je titrao
ispitivački osmijeh.
Izbrisao sam tvoje ime,
ponovio je pred ogledalom.
Nastojim sve zabilježeno i zapamtiti,
kaže, i život mi se polako,
ali tako sistematično pretvara u literaturu.
Pogleda na ručni sat Williams
te zapiše vrijeme. Zatim se približi
klaviru, izvadi Camel cigaretu
bez filtera, upali je benzinskim
upaljačem marke Ronson iz 1934.
i hrapavim glasom izgovori
«Sviraj to iznova, Sam!»

© Zvonko Maković
from: Strah

American friend

english

I try to put everything down.
Also: I want to put down motions as well.
And footprints. Then I slowly open
my notebooks, and my books, I open them
slowly too, and am not surprised by anything.
My senses have become dull.
I'm regretful and seek the accessory
to these troubles. I got these stupid sandals
this past fall. That was already put down,
and a lady who looked at her watch,
lifting up her raincoat sleeve,
uttered the sentence,
"I got these stupid sandals..."
removing her hair from her forehead,
thinking also of the ease Brenda Lee
exhibited striding on her high heels
that emphasized every muscle
of her calves, her thighs...
Also, Brenda Lee, he recalled,
used to raise her arm up high to have
her breasts dominate the screen.

Someone stumbled crossing the street
and the streetcar driver slammed the brakes.
This morning someone bought newspapers
and feeling disgusted read
the names in obituaries.
The streetcar window protects
nameless faces,
their motions seem unreal.
Their expression speaks of the just unreachable.
He would find names
scattered unsystematically
in the pages of his pocket address-book.
When he tried to set them in order,
someone screamed and he attributed
that scream to the first name he came across.
He imagined the acquaintance to be someone
who committed suicide jumping off the bridge.
I erased you name,
he said, and the inquisitve smile
flickered across his face.
I erased your name,
he repeated in front of the mirror.
I try to put down and memorize everything,
he says, and my life is slowly
but systematically turning into literature.
He glances at his Williams watch
and puts down the time. He goes
to the piano, pulls out a filterless
Camel, lights it up
with a 1934 Ronson lighter,
and says hoarsely,
"Play it again, Sam."

Translated by Mario Suško