POETRY

Metamorfoza [Odnalazly sie marzenia...] Zabawy dzieciece [Co noc] [W kontemplacji aluminium...] Skandynawia Wlosy Proba wniebowstapienia [Niebo to jednak studnia...] Jesien Zachod slonca w Prowansji Pejzaz

Metamorphosis [Dreams were found...] Children's Games [Each night] [In contemplating aluminum] Scandinavia Hair Attempt at Ascension [The sky is a well after all ] Autumn Sunset in Provance Landscape

Metamorfoza Gora chmury pekaly czarne coraz czarniejsze jakby koni frygijskich grozne tabuny az grom przeszyl obraz nie dokonczony jeszcze a model spadal glowa w dol w plotno i wrosl w cieple jeszcze kontury naglego olsnienia To byl juz ranek a ty sie smialas do mnie z portretu

Metamorphosis A mountain clouds were bursting black ever more black like terrible herds of Phrigian horses until thunder pierced the still unfinished painting and the model was falling head down into the canvas and grew into the still warm contours of sudden dazzlement It was morning already and you were laughing to me from the portrait

 
index 
 

[Odnalazly sie marzenia...] Odnalazly sie marzenia ktore wlozylem kiedys do dziurawej kieszeni gdy noc wielka wrona leciala do rzeki przejrzystej-dobrej Tamtej nocy nietoperze pozarly wszystkie gwiazdy biale motyle zostaly tylko czarne motyle Prawda byla wtedy jak ksiezyc toczacy sie po gladkim zwierciadle przez cztery tygodnie Odnalazly sie marzenia gruby kij debowy

[Dreams were found...] Dreams were found dreams I once put into my pocket with a hole when the night the big crow flew to the river transparent-good That night bats devoured all the stars white butterflies only black butterflies were left Truth was then like the moon rolling on the smooth mirror for four weeks Dreams were found a thick oak stick

 
 index 
 

Zabawy dzieciece Jedni oczami umarlych rodzicow graja w kulki Drudzy cytrynowym katatryniarzom wykradaja buty Inni z oderwanych skrzydel motylich ukladaja usmiech Ci znowu w rozowe paluszki biora sen i farbuja go na czarno A bog stoi obok

Children's Games Some play marbles with their dead parents' eyes Others steal the shoes of the lemon hurdy-gurdy men Others yet form a smile with plucked-off butterfly wings Or pick a dream with their pink little fingers and dye it black And god is standing nearby

 
 index 
 

[Co noc…] Co noc kiedy schodza do knajp kolednicy na wodke sledzia i dziwki w dalekich miastach Orionu Arlekin paznokcie gryzie do krwi i szczury przyzywa na piszczalkach swoich nog To znak ze nie dosyc fioletu zapachu mydla chleba i laskotania nozdrzy A tam kolednicy wchodza w kufle zlotego piwa i zebami w uda zarlocznie

[Each night…] Each night when carolers descend to bars for vodka herring and sluts in the far cities of Orion Harlequin bites his fingernails to blood and calls the rats on the fifes of his legs It’s a sign that there’s not enough purple or smell of soap or bread and tickle of nostrils And there the carolers enter glasses of golden beer and with their teeth the thighs voraciously

 
index  
 

[W kontemplacji aluminium...] W kontemplacji aluminium miesci sie rowniez skandynawski ogrod Hesperyd i dachy powolne lsniacym salamandrom ktore deszcz namaszcza wonna przyneta na nozdrza a mozliwe ze na stopy lunatykow Wspomnialem ogrody bo moga nie wierzyc sceptycy w pozne powracanie okazalosci jesiennej i dzbany pelne ociekajaca smukloscia na karki wysoko pokornych kobiet a mozliwe ze na stopy lunatykow

[In contemplating aluminum…] In contemplating aluminum there is also the Scandinavian garden of Hesperides and slow roofs like glossy salamanders which the rain anoints with sweet lure for nostrils and maybe for the feet of the lunatics I mentioned the gardens for skeptics may not believe in late return of autumn bounty and full jars dripping slenderness on the necks of haughty humble women and maybe on the feet of the lunatics

 
 index 
 

Skandynawia Dlonie Normanow umuzycznia Sibelius Na drugiej harfie mleko swych wlosow rozpuszcza sniezyca Lodowe platki chryzantem na ozorach psow usypiaja w ogrody Tu nie ma Gangesu lecz sa renifery o rogach wzorzystych jak fiordy albo kaprys Joanny Joanna harfa ostatnia Joanno zaplacz nade mna

Scandinavia The hands of the Normans are music by Sibelius On the second harp the blizzard spreads the milk of her hair Ice petals of chrysanthemums on dogs’ tongues fall asleep into gardens Here there is no Ganges but there are reindeer with antlers patterned like fjords or Joanna’s caprice Joanna the last harp Joanna, cry for me

 
 index 
 

Wlosy Rzeka przeplywa miedzy oczami ryb jak tecza albo niezagojone ciecie po nozu Plywaja po niej wielkie serca baobabow kola wozow a takze ciezkie kandelabry rogow utopionych jeleni Moje lzy jak okruchy chinskiej porcelany tona wirujac powoli

Hair The river flows between eyes of fish like a rainbow or a knife cut unhealed Floating on it are great hearts of baobabs cart wheels and also heavy candelabra of the horns of drowned deer My tears like small flakes of china sink swirling slowly

Translated by Chris Jurewicz
 index 

Proba wniebowstapienia Przyjdz do mnie jawnogrzesznico bede cie rozdzieral powoli na wszelkie nadzieje kolorow i zespolenie moze zakwitniesz nad ranem piekna dusza slonecznika

Attempt at Ascension Come to me harlot I will slowly tear you apart into all hopes of colors and into fusion perhaps you will bloom at dawn with the beautiful soul of a sunflower

 
 index
 

[Niebo to jednak studnia...] Niebo to jednak studnia a wiec tyle cembrowin ile smutku i gwiazd Lecz najsmutniej jest wtedy kiedy skalpel ksiezyca otwiera oblok jak brzuch delfina

[The sky is a well after all… ] The sky is a well after all and so as much well-casing as sadness and stars But the saddest is when the scalpel of the moon opens a cloud like a dolphin's belly

 
 index
 

Jesien Zanurzac zanurzac sie w ogrody rudej jesieni i liscie zrywac kolejno jakby godziny istnienia Chodzic od drzewa do drzewa od bolu i znowu do bolu cichutko krokiem cierpienia by wiatru nie zbudzic ze snu I liscie zrywac bez zalu z usmiechem cieplym i smutnym a maly listek ostatni zostawic komus i umrzec

Autumn To submerge submerge oneself into the gardens of red autumn and to pick off leaves one by one as if the hours of being To walk from tree to tree from pain and back to pain softly in step of suffering to keep the wind asleep And to pick off leaves without sorrow with a smile both warm and sad and the last little leaf to leave for someone and die

 
 index
 

Zachod slonca w Prowansji Moj ojciec zabijal krolika sprawiedliwie i tuz za uszami a jakze powolniej umieraly wysmukle swieczniki drzew tujowych i zbocza lagodne jak oczy mongolskich naloznic Ulatywaly z dymem tulipany snutych zachwytow dopoki ksiezyc... o, ksiezyc jak podrzucona wysoko lapka krolika

Sunset in Provance My father used to kill the rabbit with justice and right behind the ears and how much slower died the slender candlesticks of thujas and gentle slopes like eyes of Mongolian concubines The tulips of spinned enchantment flew away with the smoke until the moon… oh, the moon like a rabbit’s paw tossed up into the air

 
 index
 

Pejzaz Usypia horyzont w kaciku twych ust i powracaja chmury i slonce lagodniejsze polwyspy prosic o miekkie nory twoich oczu na legowisko W dalekich krajach biale dlonie mnichow zarzynaja mlode daniele i na kamiennych posadzkach swoich domow rozkladaja skory miekkie dla jednej stopy twojej Rano kiedy szyje pondosisz leniwie rece zlodziei podsuwaja ci grzebienie z kosci sloniowej i najpiekniejsze konie przybiegaja pod okno

Landscape Horizon's asleep in the corner of your mouth and the clouds and the sun return to ask the more gentle peninsulas for the soft burrows of your eyes as a lair In faraway lands white hands of monks slaughter young fallow deer and on the tile floors of their homes they spread soft skins for your one and only foot In the morning when you softly raise your neck the hands of thieves offer you ivory combs and the most beautiful horses run up to the window

 
 

index       introduction       lifewriting       timeline       images       poetry       prose       commentary
 
 
Copyright © 1995 Andrzej Duszenko
duszenko@northern edu