Saturday, September 17, 2022

Tomaž Šalamun ~

 



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