"In quicksilver puddles/
we soften like newspaper boats"
More Perihelion:
Bob Sward's Writer's Friendship Series
translated from the Polish by Frank L. Vigoda
Emergences
Let's emerge from ourselves In spite of the laws of physics
in straight jackets They round off the edges
with the yellow smoke of spider webs At dawn
a too early frost Or arms with no room
we dabble in ourselves We see rolling pumpkins
with human voice
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contrary to the flow Against the current of logic
in the air growing thick with sudden allusions
in dark rooms Around us things run
in their thirties Put on life belt rings
in their forties Whither on dried stems
in sad autumn gardens Potato fields redolent
fruits open on bluish stalks And
we are capable of almost anything Like smartass
grumbling about spilt fog in the reeds Or
for breathing Around us it's raining and the calendar
learns to swim with ophelia In quicksilver puddles
we soften like newspaper boats In the dew
suddenly ripe One breaks away from the patch
and shines And starts to sing
Frank L. Vigoda is a Boston-based translator who translates from and to Polish. Among his translations is a volume of poetry by R. Wojaczek and a collection of writings by Aleksander Wat. He is currently working on a volume of translations, Poems from Nieszuflada.