Translator’s Note: Under communist rule, the government strongly discouraged celebration of religious holidays. In a pragmatic nod to the difficulty of stopping Christmas celebrations altogether, the government used a carrot-and-stick approach to associate the celebrations with the New Year’s holiday instead. Much as the church had earlier absorbed pagan traditions such as survakane into Christmas, […]
Translation
The Snow Kept Falling by Stanislav Stratiev
[The nightingale is plucking out its feathers.] by Mirza Sakit
(Translated from Azerbaijani by Murad Jalilov and Kevin Rabas)
The nightingale is plucking out its feathers. So what if it pulls them all out? I bought you a flower. You said it had faded. It fades. So what? Are you done judging me or with your jealousy tests? It’s just two kisses on the cheek. So what? At night, you set two shot glasses […]
Until the End of Time by Grzegorz Wróblewski
(Translated from Polish by Peter Burzynski)
Mr. Z still had many things to do. He always woke up early and prepared his mind to get them done properly. He looked around the room, examining the wall and ceiling; checked the cacti. They never wanted for water. Mr. Z always took good care of his home. Next, he dusted the lamp that […]
Android and an Anecdote by Grzegorz Wróblewski
(Translated from Polish by Peter Burzynski)
Mr. Z realized what he was doing: —It sufficed that the program be changed or that only incorrect programming be added—Mr. Z was comforted by the unprogrammed android. Mr. Z stroked it until it turned pink, until it had something that resembled a shell of a human face. —They filled me with unnecessary information and […]
from Silence at Last by Karl-Heinz Ott
(Translated from German by Peter Woltemade)
I would have liked to flee to Marie, who would have driven this person from the city with a single brief appearance. But even the moon with its pocked face wanted, it seemed to me during this night, to mock me from a distance and to proclaim to me that I, too—as if in the […]
Letters of the Alphabet by Tatiana Neshumova
(Translated from Russian by J. Kates)
How long have they called me to themselves These incorruptible black beasts. There was a time when they opened for me Not their jaws, but a door. They called out to me, not as a friend, But as a shepherd, a laborer, To lend a hand. And I learned little By little to be equal […]
Untitled by Tatiana Neshumova
(Translated from Russian by J. Kates)
In my enormous head Winter dragged itself along. And the head was majestic. But an old man With blue eyes, chesty, Said nothing to me of being blind. And we ran off to his house. And I kissed His enormous head And his snow-white mouth. Already a year has passed since he died. But winter […]
Give Me Lunacy at Least by Ghalib
(Translated from Urdu by Tony Barnstone and Bilal Shaw)
Love, I can’t own you, but give me lunacy, at least. Let my last lunacy be your legacy, at least. Don’t cut all ties with me. Let me hate you and you hate me, at least. What shame in me being with you? If not in public, see me privately, at least. Go ahead, believe […]
The Tulip by Ghalib
(Translated from Urdu by Tony Barnstone and Bilal Shaw)
In the inner workings of the tulip, a red scar burns hot. The farmer’s blood sears him; he’s relieved when lightning burns the crop. Here’s the thing: until the bud blooms it feels secure. Despite its collected heart, the flower’s dream is torn apart. I’m too weak to bear this impatient grief —a straw in […]
Wasteland by Ghalib
(Translated from Urdu by Tony Barnstone and Bilal Shaw)
Again I recall her tear-glazed gaze. My heart and liver call out, thirsting for my lover. Doomsday had not yet paused for breath when I recalled the time you left. Oh, Desire, your simplicity makes me recall my lover’s witching glance. Excuse my longings, O thirsty heart. When I call out, I recall my lover. […]
