Poetry

  • Melancholia

    trans. German Thomas Frick A field of stubble. A black wind thunders. Violet sadness unfolds, The same thoughts come back, mud surrounds the brain; Asters die, leaning on fences, And sunflowers, black and dishevelled. The dreary soul shudders silently Next to the dark and empty window.

  • Zh. 255

    He whispers: “I won't even apologize For loving you so — Either be mine alone Or I will kill you.” It buzzes around me like a gadfly, Incessantly day after day, This same boring argument, Your black jealousy. Grief smothers — but not fatally, The wide wind dries my tears And cheerfulness begins to soothe,…

  • Around Town

    Its fury undiminished, the syllogism yesterday struck down thirty-seven new victims in Paris alone. Shortsightedness at the Hôtel de Ville may plunge our nighttime streets into total darkness. The noise of the new electric-light generators has been aggravating the insomnia of the trees that line the boulevards, and last night enraged plane trees fell on…

  • Grodek

    (Trakl's last poem) At sundown the autumn woods resound With deadly weapons, the golden fields And blue lakes, the sun Moves on seriously; The night grasps Dying soldiers, the wild cries From their shattered mouths. Red clouds gather silently Over the meadows, sent by a wrathful god, Soaking up the lost blood, cool as the…

  • Zh. 290 Apparition

    The round, hanging lanterns, Lit early, are squeaking, Ever more festively, ever brighter, The flying snowflakes glitter. And, quickening their steady gait, As if sensing some pursuit, Through the softly falling snow Under a dark blue net, the horses race. And the gilded footman Stands motionless behind the sleigh, And the Tsar looks around strangely…

  • On the Road to San Romano

    trans. French Richard Tillinghast Poetry like love is made in a bed. In her messed-up sheets the sun rises. Poetry lives in deep woods. She has all the room she needs. One whole side of the universe      Is ruled by a hawk's gaze,      By the dewdrop on a furled fern,      By the memory of a…

  • Air

    trans. German Stuart Freibert I made myself some air every which way. It remained nicely invisible. No one saw me petting it. We went on living together. I felt great standing there finding what I sought in the air. I was partial to it because it was all around me. And it stood by me…

  • Give Me Back My Rags

    trans. Serbian Charles Simic with Morton Marcus Just pop into my head My thoughts the better to claw your cheek Just step in front of me My eyes the better to snap at you Just open your big mouth My silence the better to crack your jaws Just remind me of what you are My…