Four Romanian Poems— Eliza Macadan

Feb 20, 2023 | Poetry

Translated from the Romanian by Iuliana Pittman 

 

Four Romanian Poems by Eliza Macada

Image used for representation.

 

I dream again, it snows
I break open ‘till the end
bruised, I look down
I’m losing all battles with sleep
I kiss my father’s hands
when he slowly dies
one minute a day
and give me his vines
his reason to live for
bloodstained winter
comes like a punch in an empty stomach
I’m listening to my poems on the radio
crying has a sense now


I do the table turning
and call only the good ancestors
the old king
comes at midnight
and blows the candle out
the white horse gallop
throw behind some pearls

From a star
my grandfather winks
and Thursday’s on fire


Today, it’s raining mud
the Earth has left its hinges
and roll over the places
nervously
to find the right place
for sleep


On a night like this
the morning will never come
the solitude got us sedated
and I can’t even get to your lips
all the sadness
you kept it in your eyes
it’s raining all over the sky
the hands hallucinate
in the darkness
in the word


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

The Impermanence Of Memory— Ahana Bhattacharjee


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Eliza Macadan, born in 1967 in Romania, is a poet and journalist. She writes in Romanian, Italian, and French and has published over ten volumes of poetry. Her books have received critical and public acclaim and awards in Romania, Italy, and France.

Iuliana Pittman was born in 1967 in Romania. Currently living in Malaysia, she is teaching English to local students. 

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