George Szirtes - Body Songs

1.Back

Slipping his hand down her back he felt her heat,
As creaturely as his own but far better. Her head
Was cool to the touch. Where did they meet,
These two conditions? What was mid-point here?
It was where the nature of creatureliness resided,
Half way between acute desire and fear.

2.Skull

You feel the bones of the face. It is like weeping.
Do animals weep? She seemed to be buoyed
On an enormous reservoir of tears. Her sleeping
Contained time in a cupping of hands,
A time that was to be lamented but enjoyed
In environments of working cells and glands.

3.Leg

Your leg, it seems nothing. Your eyes count
For little. Your organs are obscure, your limbs
Anonymous. Your bodily fluids don’t amount
To a hill of beans, but you are lost in awe
Of the poor rags that live in your dreams
Where desire is king and obeys no law.

4.Neck

The delicate architecture of the neck demands
Study. One needs a certain scholarly devotion
To appreciate its fragility refined into bands
Of necklace, light, and shadow. The very notion
Of its existence has a faintly oriental
Exotic flavour that is not merely accidental.

5.Skin

Skin is enough to send a rhyme-scheme skew-whiff.
Could one but fix a voltmeter to the small bones
Of the wrist it would read off the scale. It is as if
There were convulsions in the circuit. The soles
Of the feet are mother-boards for the stones
We must rush across as if they were hot coals.

6.Heart

What is it burns us up? Let me feel your temple.
Is it your heart, my small and wonderful source
Of delight? My own organ is a poor example
Of the organ maker’s art. My chest wheezes
With its burden, my blood stutters along its course,
My genes whisper lamentable inherited diseases.

7.Aging

The dynamics of aging: a gust of wind
On the surface of the pond. What creatures
Live down there? Deep down perhaps, blind
Animalculae are gathering beneath a rock
Among flamboyant fish with macabre features
Registering various states of shock.

8.Waist

Slenderest. The point at which you break
Into two is where I most like to hold
You together. It is there I feel the ache
Of your otherness, before you expand
Above and below into that blithe controlled
Delight that makes my own flesh stretch and stand.

9.Belly

The dome of the world. Its peculiar swelling
Presents a purely lascivious curve
At tension with itself, smelling
Vaguely of perfume and earth. It is
The last of the good times, the reserve
Of the well fed once gorged on vanities.

10.Hand

Almost another independent being
Stuck to your wrist. I hold it as it grows
Flowers and closes on whatever it’s carrying.
I have wandered down its alleyways
From which everything else follows
That finger points to and palm weighs.

George Szirtes - Cantare trupului

1.Spinare

Lunecarea mainii pe spinare ii dezvalui caldura trupului,
La fel de-animalica ca si-a lui, mai acatarii parca. Capul ei
Era racoros la atingere. Unde converg, doua conditii acestea?
Care era mijlocul drumului aici?
Era punctul unde salasluieste animalitatea,
La sorocul dintre pofta si teama.

2.Teasta

Simti oasele fetei. E aidoma plansului
Animalele plang? Ancorata parca
de un gigantic rezervor de lacrimi. Somnul ei
inchidea timpul in causul palmelor
Timpul, ce jelit vroia a fi, dar si savurat
Pe bucati de glande si celule active.

3.Picior

Piciorul tau, pare nimic. Ochii, de insemnatate
Sunt lipsiti. Organele, nedeslusite sunt. Membrele,
Anonime. Umorile trupului nu fac nici
O ceapa degerata, totusi - infiorat esti si uimit
De o carpa imunda de aievea este doar in ale tale vise
Unde dorinta domneste si legea nesocoteste.

4.Gat

Arhitectura delicata a gatului necesita
Studiu. E nevoie de aplecarea carturarului
Pentru a-I aprecia fragilitatea rafinata cu unduiri
De colier, lumini si umbre. Simpla idee
A existentei sale are un iz nedeslusit exotic
Oriental deloc accidental.

5.Piele

Pielea singura e de-ajuns sa emane un damf piezis de vers rimat.
De-ar putea cineva sa monteze un voltmetru pe oscioarele
De la incheietura, am putea atunci citi valorile. Asemeni
Sinusoidelor dintr-un circuit. Talpile
Picioarelor sunt placi de baza pentru pietrele
pe care trebuie in iures sa alergam ca pe carbuni incinsi.

6.Inima

Ce e de ne arde asa? Lasa-ma tampla sa-ti simt
Sa fie inima ta, mica si minunata mea sursa
de incantare? Al meu organ un palid exemplu este
de maiestrie a Creatorului de organe. Pieptul imi suiera
sub povara, sangele mi se poticneste pe traseu,
genele isi suiera disperarea bolilor mostenite.

7.Senectute

Dinamica senectutii: o pala de vant
Pe suprafata iazului. Ce creaturi
Salasluiesc acolo? In adancuri poate, orbeti
Mormoloci increati se imbulzesc dupa o stanca
Printre pesti multicolori, cu siluete macabre
Ce manifesta stari de soc variate.

8.Mijloc

Cea mai subtirica. Punctul in care te frangi
In doua, este de unde imi place cel mai mult
Sa te tin laolalta.Acolo simt eu durerea
Alteritatii tale, inainte de-a te extinde
Deasupra si dedesubt, intr-o dulce transa
De visare ce pielea imi intinde si imi intepeneste.

9.Pantec

Domul lumii. Umflatura deosebita
Ce prezinta o curba pur lasciva
Tensionata prin sine, mirosind
Usor a parfum si-a tarana. Este
Ultima ocazie buna, rezerva
celor bine hraniti, cu desertaciune imbuibati odinioara.

10.Mana

O alta fiinta aproape de sine statatoare
Lipita de a ta incheietura. O sustin caci ea creste
Flori si se inclesteaza pe orice cara.
Am hoinarit pe aleile sale
De unde totul urmeaza
Pe care degetul le-arata iar palma le cumpaneste.

Translated by Alina Barbu