Maria
I
This is a book
for little girls.
The most
beautiful and perversely soft
book
for little girls' eyes.
Block-chested
stags
sprout from the soil.
They crap
and leave their mess
but I
can't tell
if they were here
or not.
II
I'm a
blueberry.
I'm the sweet black
blueberry
under the pine
in the forest.
I still have time
about two days
before
a little girl
or a shepherd
passes
with a cup
and a rake-comb.
III
I'm a she-mouse
who tumbled
through a long tunnel
onto the soft grass.
With my tiny teeth
I licked
the stovepipe
and with my
tiny claws
scratched through the wall
into the rosy day.
IV
And I stood at the
foot of the
fence
and watched
the cold peacock-butterfly
up above.
Clouds
rushed behind
his wings.
I lay down
head against the
fence,
drank all
the mother's milk
the oil of the earth.
V
And in the
snare jutting
from the corner of the stovepipe
I saw a mousetrap.
Out of a hole in the sky
rain fell.
I hit the mousetrap
with a straw
already rusty
it snatched at the
rowen
at the old grass
that the cattle ignored
to graze.
VI
I placed
on the anvil
a dainty shoe.
I hit it so
hard
sparks flew
when I resoled it.
I gave it no thought
how electricity
appeared
in the dark stovepipe
under the earth
how the shoe
appeared
in my fate.
VII
Then I gave
birth to little ones
through my
butt
and placed them on the
dark bottom
of the stovepipe.
I hewed a playpen
for them on
the shiny grass
stuck flags
in the humus
next to each
wooden leg.
I rested
a hand on my hip.
With the hand on my hip
I looked
up.
VIII
Most likely
flying birds
were
black spots.
I snatched the pacifier
from my son's mouth
that ruined
the angle of my hand
on my hip.
Clasping the pacifier
my hand swung
the span of
five inches.
IX
How is it
possible
to sleep on soft
grass in the sunless
black earth?
Can one see
the light
of the other sky?
I'm a she-mouse
red
the pinkest
among animals
pink paws
pink whiskers
I'm not even a mole.
X
Surround me
my snow-laden
blue-ravaged
leaves.
I'm the
dark red
unprotected
wild strawberry.
Who
caresses me
who
touches me
who will actually
pick me
is not yet clear.
____________________
Druids
Tomaž Šalamun
trans. Sonja Kravanja
Black Ocean, 2018
