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 - Cantarile trupului

1.Spate

Lasandu-si mana sa alunece in jos pe spatele ei ii simti fierbinteala
La fel de-nsufletita ca a lui insa cu mult mai placuta. Capul ei
Era racoros la atingere. Unde oare se-ntalnisera,
Aceste doua stari? Care sa fi fost punctul lor de jonctiune?
Era acolo unde salasluia esenta fapturii,
La jumatatea drumului dintre dorinta nestavilita si teama.

2.Teasta

Simti oasele fetei. E ca si cum ai plange.
Oare animalele plang? Parea ca pluteste
Pe un enorm rezervor de lacrimi. Somnul ei
Intemnita timpul in causul palmelor,
Un timp ce trebuia deplans dar si trait cu bucurie
In vecinatatea celulelor si glandelor in lucru.

3.Picior

Piciorul tau, pare un nimic. Ochii abia
De mai conteaza. Organele-ti sunt obscure, membrele
Anonime. Umorile trupului tau insumate n-ajung
Nici la genunchiul broastei, dar esti pierduta in veneratia
Bietilor zdrentarosi ce-ti insufletesc visele
Acolo unde dorinta e stapana si nu se supune nici unei legi.

4.Gat

Alcatuirea delicata a gatului necesita
Studiu. E nevoie de o anume devotiune carturareasca
Pentru a-i aprecia fragilitatea rafinata in siraguri
De coliere, lumina si umbra. Insasi notiunea
Existentei sale are un iz usor exotic si oriental, deloc intamplator.

5.Piele

Pielea de de-ajuns sa emane o mireasma ritmata
De-ar putea cineva conecta un voltmetru la micile oase
Ale incheieturii, acesta ar sari din parametrii. Ar fi ca si cum
Ar exista convulsii in circuit. Talpile
Picioarelor sunt placi matrice pentru pietrele
Peste care trebuie sa sarim ca si cum ar fi carbuni incinsi.

6.Inima

Ce ne face oare sa ardem in flacari? Lasa-ma sa-ti ating tampla.
Sa fie oare inima ta, micul si minunatul meu izvor
De incantare? Propria-mi orga e un prost exemplu
De maiestrie a artizanului. Pieptu-mi gafaie
De povara, sangele mi se poticneste-n drum,
Genele-mi soptesc jalnice boli mostenite.

7.Imbatranire

Dinamica imbatranirii: o rafala de vant
Pe suprafata iazului. Ce creaturi
Salasluiesc acolo jos? Poate ca in adancuri,
Moluste oarbe se inghesuie sub o piatra
Printre pesti extravagante cu trasaturi macabre
Ce trec prin varii stari de soc.

8.Mijloc

Cel mai zvelt. Punctul in care te frangi
In doua e cel in care-mi place cel mai mult
Sa mi te-adun. Acolo simt durerea
Deosebirii tale, inainte sa te-ntinzi
In sus si in jos in acea vesela si stapanita
Incantare ce-mi face carnea sa se-ntinda si sa se ridice.

9.Pantec

Cupola lumii. Umflatura sa specifica
Descrie o curba pur lasciva
In tensiune cu sine insasi, mirosind
Vag a parfum si tarana.
Cea de pe urma din vremurile bune, rezerva celui satul,
Imbuibat candva cu trufie.

10.Mana

Aproape-o alta fiinta de sine statatoare
Lipita de incheietura ta. O tin in timp ce creste
Infloreste si se-nchide peste orice cuprinde.
I-am cutreierat aleile
De unde totul porneste
Ce cu degetul arata iar cu palma cantareste.

Translated by Ileana Botescu-Sireteanu