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 - Cinturile trupului

1.Spinare

Alunecind cu mina pe spinarea ei, ii simti caldura
De fiinta asemenea lui, insa cu mult mai grozava. Capul ei
Era rece la atingere. Unde se intilnisera
Aceste doua stari? Care era, aici, punctul de mijloc?
Era acolo unde salasluia natura fiintarii,
La jumatatea drumului dintre dorinta aprinsa si frica.

2.Craniu

Pipai oasele fetei. Parca ai plinge.
Animalele pling, oare? Ea parea sa se tina la suprafata
Pe un enorm rezervor de lacrimi. Somnul ei
Tine timpul in causul palmelor,
Un timp de care sa se plinga sau sa se bucure
In vecinatatea celulelor si glandelor ce functioneaza.

3.Picior

Piciorul tau, parca-i nimic. Ochii conteaza
Prea putin. Organele iti sint obscure, membrele
Anonime. Fluidele din trup n-ajung
Nici cit o gramajoara de boabe, dar te pierzi in venerarea
Bietelor zdrente ce traiesc in visele tale
Unde dorinta e regina si nu cunoaste lege.

4.Git

Delicata arhitectura a gitului cere
Un studiu. Iti trebuie o anume devotiune de savant
Ca sa-i apreciezi fragilitatea rafinata in fisii
De colier, cu lumini si umbre. Insasi ratiunea-i
De-a exista aduce o imperceptibil orientala
Aroma exotica, deloc accidentala.

5.Piele

Pielea e de ajuns sa trimita miresmele in schema rimei
Dac-am fixa un voltametru de oasele micute
Ale-ncheieturii, i-am da acul peste cap. Ar fi ca si cum
Ar exista convulsii in circuit. Talpile
Picioarelor sint placutele de baza pentru pietrele
Pe care trebuie sa ne zorim sa trecem, ca pe taciuni incinsi.

6.Inima

Ce ne mistuie in flacari? Lasa-ma sa-ti pun mina pe timpla.
Sa fie inima-ti, sursa mea mica si minunata
De incintare? Propriul meu organ e un exemplu prost
Al artei mesterului de organe. Pieptul imi suiera
De-asa povara, singele mi se-mpiedica pe drum,
Genele imi soptesc de pacatoasele-mi boli mostenite.

7.Imbatrinire

Dinamica imbatrinirii: o rafala de vint
Pe suprafata helesteului. Ce creaturi
Salasluiesc pe-acolo? Acolo, in adincuri, poate, oarbe
Microorganisme se string pe sub vreo stinca
Printre pesti viu colorati, cu trasaturi macabre
Trecind prin variate stari de soc.

8.Talie

Cea mai zvelta. Punctul in care te fringi
In doua e locul unde-mi place cel mai mult sa
Mi te string. Acolo simt durerea
Alteritatii tale, dinainte de-a te intinde
In sus si-n jos, in acea jucausa incintare
Controlata ce-mi face carnea sa se-ntinda si sa se ridice.

9.Pintec

Cupola lumii. Umflatura ei aparte
Prezinta o curba pur lasciva
Aflata in tensiune cu propriu-i sine, cu un iz
Vag de parfum si de pamint. Este
Ultima din distractii, rezerva
Celui bine hranit, ce se-mbuiba mai ieri cu vanitati.

10.Mina

Aproape ca-i o alta fiinta, independenta,
Atasata de incheietura ta. O tin cind creste
Flori si se inchide peste orice ar duce in ea.
Am ratacit pe aleile sale
Dinspre care totul pleaca,
Care arata cu degetul si cintareste cu palma.

Translated by Cristina Nistor