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 - Imnele trupului

1.Spatele

A managaiat-o jos pe spate si ea ardea
La fel de animalic ca si el, dar mai fain.Capul ei
Ii racorea mana. Unde se intersectau,
Caldul si recele? Unde se-mbinau?
In salasul animalitatii,
Intre pofta cumplita si frica.

2.Teasta

Oasele obrazului ei, le atingi. Ca lacrimele.
Animalele oare plang? Si ce avant luase
Imensul ei balon cu lacrimi! O sectiune
Din somnul ei intra-ntre palme alaturate.
Sectiune de timp regretata dar deplin gustata
In spatii unde celulele si glandele robotesc.

3.Piciorul

Piciorul tau, parca un fleac.Ochii prea putin
Conteaza. Organele-ti sunt obscure, membrele
Anonime. Sevele trupului tau abia se ridica
Un stanjen, dar pe tine te dau gata
Bietele carpe ce-ti populeaza visele, acolo
Unde pofta-i regina despotica.

4.Gatul

Delicata arhitectura a gatului cere migala.
Studiindu-l, iti trebuie anume devotiune savanta
Ca sa-i apreciezi fragilitatea prinsa-n
Coliere, lumini, umbre. Simplul fapt
Ca exista poarta-n sine o vag-orientala
Exotica aroma ce nu se poate numi accidentala.

5.Pielea

Rostesti "piele" si te-nteapa,fin,poezia.
De-ai putea atasa un voltmetru pe oscioarele
Incheieturii i-ai citi rimele toate. Ar sari
Acul, sinusoidal. Talpile
Picioarelor sunt punti peste pietre si
Ard cumplit, incat le trecem in goana.

6.Inima

Ce e de arde-asa? Lasa-ma tampla sa-ti ating
Sa fie inima ta, mica si minunata mea sursa
De incantare? Al meu organ e palida copie
A organului creatorului meu.Pieptu-mi gajaie
De povara sa, sangele bolboroseste in goana,
Genele soptesc despre jalnice boli congenitale.

7. Imbatranirea

Dinamica imbatranirii: vantul,napustit
Brusc pe-oglinda iazului. Ce creaturi
Salasluiesc acolo? Adanc-adanc,poate,
Animalute oarbe se-aduna sub o stanca
Printre pestii spectaculosi cu mutre sinistre
Ce ilustreaza socuri, in zig-zag.

8.Talia

Viespoasa.Exact unde te frangi
In doua, acolo eu te-as strange
La un loc.Acolo iti simt durerea
Alteritatii tale, 'nainte sa te infoi
In sus si-n jos in exuberanta controlata aplacerii
Ce mie carnea-mi intinde si in sus o scoala.

9.Pantecele

Acoperisul lumii. unica umflatura
Ochiului ofera o curba pur lasciva
Tensionata prin sine, amirosind
Vag a parfum si pamant. Ea este
Ultima clipa buna, rezerva
Hranitului ce-nfuleca trufie candva.

10.Mana

Ai zice ca-i o alta fiinta, independenta,
Lipita de inchietura. In palma mea, creste
Flori si se-nfasoara pe tot ce duce.
Am hoinarit pe cararile sale
De unde decurge tot
Ce degetul arata si palma cumpaneste.

Translated by Liviu Martinescu