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 - Cantecele trupului

1.Spate

Cu mana alunecand pe spatele ei, ii simtii caldura,
La fel de vie ca si a lui, dar mult mai calda. Capul ei
Era rece la atingere. Unde s-au intalnit,
Aceste doua conditii? Care a fost punctul de mijloc aici?
Era acolo unde locuia natura fapturii,
La jumatate de drum dintre dorinta arzatoare si teama.

2.Craniu

Simti oasele fetei. Parca ar plange.
Oare animalele plang? Ea parea ca plutea
Pe un lac enorm de lacrimi. Somnul ei
Cuprindea timpul in causul mainilor,
Un timp ce nu era sa fie plans, ci delectat
In mijlocul celulelor active si a glandelor.

3.Picior

Piciorul tau, pare nimic. Ochii tai nu conteaza
Mai deloc. Organele tale sunt obscure, membrele
Anonime. Umorile corpului tau nu ajung
Nici pana la genunchiul broastei, dar esti pierdut in minunea
Zdrentarosilor bieti ce dainuie in visele tale,
Unde dorinta e stapana si nu se supune niciunei legi.

4.Gat

Arhitectura delicata a gatului cere
Studiu. E nevoie de un devotament carturaresc
Pentru a aprecia fragilitatea sa rafinata in fasii
De coliere, lumina si umbre. Simpla idee
A existentei sale are o aroma exotica slab orientala,
Ce nu e deloc accidentala.

5.Piele

Pielea e de ajuns pentru a face rima s-o ia razna.
Daca cineva ar putea sa fixa un voltmetru la oscioarele
De la incheietura, s-ar da peste cap cadranul.E ca si cum
Ar fi fluctuatii in circuit. Talpile
Picioarelor sunt unitatea centrala pentru pietre
Trebuie sa ne grabim ca si cand ar fi carbuni incinsi.

6.Inima

Ce ne infierbanta pe noi? Lasa-ma sa-ti simt tampla.
Este oare inima ta sursa mea mica si minunata
De delectare? Propriul meu organ este un umil exemplu
Al artei creatorului. Pieptul meu horcaie
Sub greutatea sa, sangele-mi boloboroseste,
Genele-mi soptesc triste bolile mostenite.

7.Batranetea

Dinamica imbatranirii: o rafala de vant
Pe suprafata lacului. Ce fapturi
Traiesc aici jos? Poate acolo jos de tot, animale
Oarbe se aduna sub o piatra
Printre pesti multicolori cu forme macabre
Inregistrand stari diverse de soc.

8.Talie

Cea mai subtire. Momentul in care o rupi
In doua este atunci cand vreau cel mai mult
Sa te tin la un loc. Acolo este unde simt durerea
Deosebirii tale, inainte ca tu sa te extinzi
Deasupra si dedesupt in acea placere jucausa
Si controlata ce-mi face corpul sa tresara.

9.Pantece

Domul lumii. Umflatura sa speciala
Prezinta o unduitura lasciva
Tensionata ea insasi, mirosind
Vag a parfum si pamant. Este
Ultimul moment bun, rezerva
A ce-a fost odata ghiftuit cu desertaciuni.

10.Mana

O alta faptura aproape independenta
Intepenita de incheietura ta. O tin in timp ce
Infloreste si apuca orice prinde.
M-am ratacit pe aleile sale
De unde totul curge spre
Acel deget ce indica si palma cantareste.

Translated by Ana-Maria Purec