by Anzhelina Polonskaya
Translated from Russian by Andrew Wachtel
So now the soldiers have gone and no one's left.
They ate and drank here, here they spat on the floor,
while you touch my forehead and lips –
neither Polish nor Russian.
It's a strange Sunday, like a wrist without a pulse,
where should we go, dear landlady?
We'd intended to live for a long time,
offering some kind of bread, some kind of water –offering.
Wait a bit, the forests have their phthalic depths,
the soldiers are gone but the wolves
have certainly remained.
You'll be like a bright summer noon,
with an open collar,
someone will enter without a fight and you'll tell all.
No blood and no violence, but you won't lie, you can't,
the soldiers stand and watch—
they never left.
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Anzhelina Polonskaya was born in Malakhovka, a small town near Moscow., Since 1998, she has been a member of the Moscow Union of Writers and in 2003, Polonskaya became a member of the Russian PEN-centre. In 2004 an English version of her book, entitled "A Voice, " appeared in the acclaimed “Writings from an Unbound Europe” series at Northwestern University Press. This book was shortlisted for the 2005 Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry in Translation and for the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) prize for literature in translation. Polonskaya has published translations in many of the leading world poetry journals, including World Literature Today, Poetry Review, The Ameircan Poetry Review, and International Poetry Review, Boulevar, The Iowa Review, The Massachusetts Review, Prairie Schooner., In October 2011 the “Oratorio-Requiem” Kursk, whose libretto consists of ten of Polonskaya’s poems had debut at the Melbourne Arts Festival. Paul Klee’s Boat, a bilingual edition of her latest poems has just been published by Zephyr Press., Polonskaya’s work has also been translated into Dutch, Slovenian, Latvian, Spanish and other languages . Polonskaya continúes to live and work in Malakhovka, where she is preparing a new volume of poetry for publication.
Last updated June 19, 2011