Above The Bell and Other Poems— Ivan Djeparoski

Oct 25, 2023 | Poetry | 0 comments

TRANSLATED FROM THE MACEDONIAN BY ZORAN ANCHEVSKI

THE VILLAGES OF MOUNT ATHOS ¹

The monasteries of Mount Athos are villages of the Holy Mother of God

Dementian of Chilandar

The bigger
the cities
we come from
to Mount Athos
the greater
our loneliness.

And here the monasteries
wait for us –
the serene villages
of the Mother of God,
the flowery meadows
with blossoming trees.

The fragrant alleys
of monks
who piously,
in peaceful prayer,
sing like
heavenly birds.

The bigger
the cities
we come from
to Mount Athos
the greater the joy
to meet the heavenly citizens.

DURATION

Duration is called life

Gilles Deleuze, Bergsonism

Duration without
and duration within us
are two different durations.

Duration within
and duration without us
are two equal durations.

Purged duration
is always different
and always equal.

The past,
the present
and the future,

on Mount Athos
live and last
creatively.

SEA AND MONASTERY

Only
on Mount Athos
could I turn
my back to the sea.

Only
on Mount Athos
the eyes first seek for
the arched entrance
to the inside of the monastery.

Only
on Mount Athos
the eyes always
guide you to the cross
of the central church.

Only
on Mount Athos
beauty is not
the nature behind us
but the spirit before us.

Only
on Mount Athos
the morning prayer
is always unique
and filled with bliss.

Only
on Mount Athos
the evening prayer
summons so many young,
but also so many ancient monks.

Only
on Mount Athos
could I turn
my back to the sea.

September 2010, Philotheou Monastery, Mount Athos

ABOVE THE BELL

A bell rings. Somewhere far away

Mateja Matevski

Beneath me, there, a bell rings.
Beneath me, nearby, it rings.

My body is
a tuning fork,
I touch it –
the vibrations stop.
The resonance brakes waves
in the ears.

It rings beneath me,
beneath me, nearby.

The floorboards
of the guest room
are nailed to beams –
I peep through
and spot a bell,
ringing gleefully.

It rings beneath me,
beneath me, nearby.
The bed I sleep in
is right above the bell
of the Konstamonitou
monastery.
Beneath the room, a porch –
above the bell, a bed.

It rings beneath me,
beneath me, nearby.

September, 2011, Konstamonitou Monastery – Mount Athos

¹All the poems are from the poetry collection The Light of Mount Athos (Skopje, 2015), recepient of the “Brothers Miladinov Prize” at the Festival Struga Poetry Evenings in 2016.

Also, read a book review of The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa , reviewed by Ahana Bhattacharjee, and published in The Antonym:

Follow The Antonym’s Facebook page and Instagram account for more content and exciting updates.

About Author

Ivan Djeparoski

Ivan (Ivica) Djeparoski (1958, Skopje, North Macedonia). Poet, philosopher, aesthetician, essayist, critic, anthologist, translator. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. He works at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje as a professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy of Culture. He was Head of the Institute of Philosophy and secretary of Macedonian P.E.N. Centre. He is an author of thirty-seven books: eight poetry books, four poetry anthologies, seventeen books in the field of aesthetics and cultural theory and also of eight anthologies in literature and aesthetics. His poetry and some of his essays are translated into more than twenty languages. Poetic bibliography: Pictures from the Exhibition, 1989; Eclogues, 1992; Poems, 1998; Will for Thought, 2008; The Abduction of Europe, 2012; The Light of Mt. Athos, 2015; The City, 2020; Archaic Autobiography, 2021. Recepient of the “Brothers Miladinov Prize” at Struga Poetry Evenings for the book “The Light of Mount Athos” in 2016 and of many other literary awards.

About Translator

Zoran Anchevski

Zoran Anchevski (b. 1954), university professor of English and American literature, poet, translator and essayist. He has published eight books of poetry that have been well received by the critics and highly acclaimed and awarded by various awards, including: Studentski Zbor, for best first book of poems (1984); the international poetry award Giacomo Leopardi in Italy (2004), “Miladinov Brothers”, the most prestigious national poetry award (twice) for Celestial Pantomime (2018 and Puzzled Compasses, 2022); Grigor Prlichev Award for a long poem (The Lives of Horses, 2022). He has also published a number of essays, reviews, and a book-length study in literary theory and criticism, Of Tradition (2007). He is the editor and translator of several poetry and short story anthologies in English and of many major British, American and Macedonian poets and prose writers into Macedonian or English. For his work in translation, he was awarded the national translation award Grigor Prlichev (2001). Selections from his poetry have been translated into more than twenty languages and published in various magazines and anthologies at home and abroad. He is a Board member of the Macedonian Writers’ Union, two times secretary and current president of Macedonian P.E.N., former president of the Organizing Board of the Struga International Poetry Festival (2002-2007). Lives and works in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia.