Dane Zajc

Two crows, black crows
cawing
across fields.

Caw, caw,
cold are the fields.

Wind squalling across the fields,
over the waters, over the Alps
lurks the winter.

Caw, caw,
the squall lunges off the Alps.

The squall lunges,
hunger strides the fields,
hoar-frost fields.

Caw, caw,
still miles from home.
...

Čez poljá, čez poljá,
vrana dva, črna dva
sta letela.

Kra, kra,
mrzla so polja.

Burja gre čez poljé,
čez vodé, čez goré,
zima bela.

Kra, kra,
burja gre od gorá.

Burja gre od gorá.
stradež gre čez poljá,
polja bela.

Kra, kra,
kdaj bova doma.
...

When you undressed her blind

Night butterflies broke into crystals
They were masked robbers

Did you see her stepping out of the split crystal
Did you see her in the blue lightning
Did you see her in the ozone cloud
Did you smell her in your brain
Did you smell her in your spine
Did all the stairways of your body surge
from her scent

Did you hear her
when with a highpitched
when with a hoarse
when with the all of the above sound
when she screamed
Did you hear her farewell when she stepped into
the crystal
When she locked herself in the crystal

You lay on sheets
You lay on your stomach
You felt strong you felt lucent you felt you were
blood you felt

You heard the night butterflies' blood
the dark rustling in the dark
You saw sheet lightning in the rustling
the golden glitter of the burglarized crystals
the crystals' soul in the blood of night butterflies
...

Si jo slep slaèil

So noèni metulji vlamljali kristale
So bili zakrinkani vlomilci

Si jo videl ko je stopila iz razklanega kristala
Si jo videl v plavem blisku
Si jo videl v oblaku ozona
Si jo vonjal v mozganih
Si jo vonjal v hrbtenici
So zagomazela vsa stopnišèa zivota
od njenega vonja

Si jo slišal
ko je z visokim
ko je s hripavim
ko je z vse obenem glasom
ko je zavpila
Si slišal ko se je v kristal poslavljala
Ko se je v kristal zaprla

Si lezal na rjuhah
Si lezal na trebuhu
Si èutil da si moèen si èutil da si svetel da si kri si èutil

Si slišal kri noènih metuljev
temno šumenje v temi
Si videl v šumenju bliskavico
zlato svetlikanje vlomljenih kristalov
dušo kristalov v krvi noènih metuljev
...

when I think about all your hopes
etched in your footsteps
I follow them
the footsteps that suddenly
sink into fog and mud
and damp cold

when I expect you and you come
and sit quietly by me
and I ask Is everything, everything gone
In a flash, you say, in an insane
instant it went down down
it vanished
I think of you coming with legs
corroded from a traitorous journey
and I see no reflection of your eyes
and I watch the heavy clouds falling
over the sharp-edged cliffs
and hear the spruce tips piercing
the bellies of a dark wind.
...

ko mislim na vse tvoje upe
ki so vtisnjeni v stopinje tvoje
jih sledim
stopinje ki se naenkrat
ugreznejo v meglo in blato
in mraz mokrotni

ko te prièakujem ko prideš
in tiho sedeš zraven mene
in vprašam A vse a vse je šlo
V trenutku, reèeš, v trenutku
neprištevnem je padlo dol dol
je izginilo

mislim kako si prišel z nogami
razzrtimi od zavratne poti
kako ti vidim brlijo oèi brez odseva
in gledam kako padajo tezki oblaki
èez ostrine sten
in slišim kako prebadajo smrekovi vršièki
trebuhe temnega vetra
...

brush my lips gently
so they don't burst open
swollen with desire

(gold hats smell in the quiet sun
smell sharp of semen
of a drop that fell
into the scent of a girl's body)

brush my nipples
with the tip of your tongue only
my impatient ardent
nipples will burst into flames
if kindled by your lips

(gold hats hide dark lust
in the deep throats
the flowery crowns bend toward the landscape beyond)

brush with tentacles
at where you are at where I am
until the head inside is ablaze
and you quiver give taste
and I press you crush you
drink you drink

(gold hats bend their
crowned heads
the scent of semen mixes with a sweet drop
the smell of a girl
in the lonesome afternoon)
...

narahlo se dotikaj
mojih ustnic da ne poèijo
nabrekle od pozelenja

(zlati klobuki dišijo v tihem soncu
ostro dišijo po semenu
po kaplji ki je kanila
v vonj dekliškega telesa)

samo s konico jezika
se dotikaj mojih bradavic
tako zivih neuèakanih
bradavice bi zgorele
prizgane s tvojimi ustnicami

(zlati klobuki v globokih grlih
temno pohoto skrivajo
v slike onkraj se cvetne krone sklanjajo)

samo s tipalkami se dotikaj
tam kjer si kjer sem
da v glavi rdeèe zazari
ves utripaj vse daj vse popij
zdaj te stisnem zdaj te zmeèkam te
pijem te pijem

(zlati klobuki so sklonili
kronane glave
vonj semena pomešan s sladko kapljo
dekliško diši
v samotno popoldne)
...

Don't talk to me.
Keep your forked tongue still.

Don't look at me.
I don't like your eyes.
Different eyes look at me.
Serene like shattered gothic windows.

The sun shot at them.
The arrogant sun.
It shot through them
with thousands arrows.

The stars pierced them
in long mute nights
with slender daggers.
The sharp bright tips danced
before the big motionless eyes.
The moon's face opened up:
like a lit cave
her mouth gaping
full of fat rocks of guffaw.

Holy women were dying
with long transparent faces.
The shot wings of white angels
drooped.

The narrow wakeful world's eyes closed.
The bright cold death
on the tips of the stars' rays.
The drunken moon's mockery
tumbled in the void.

Don't look at me.
Different eyes stare at me.
Narrow. Empty. Dead.
Sad.

2



At night the rubies begin to glow
on your breasts, Magdalena.
Two red rubies under a grey veil.
In the dark of the cathedral.
In the white smoke of snuffed candles.
Throw off your veil.

Throw it off: the dry rustle of sin
in the scent of prayers.
With a dry smack stars will fall
from your head.
In a clear jet the stars will pour
from your eyes into my open mouth.
The rubies of your body
will drop into my lap.
The moon will lick your hips
with a red tongue of passion.

Throw off your veil, Magdalena.
Tomorrow you will stand in the drizzling
light of the sun
naked. Humiliated.
Mine.

3


White arms in the sky.
White legs on a rock.
White holy women in tall windows.
Holy women in red lights.
A body wrapped in a red veil.

I am a marble angel.
An angel without faith.
White legs.
White arms.
A body wrapped in grey canvas.
The angel that cherishes the holy women.

The holy women undress at the windows.
The sun sees through their backs.
The yellow. The red.
The holy women undress slowly.
Their bodies evaporate in smoke.
Only their arms remain.
Only their legs remain.
A sign in the blue sky.
Solitude on the white rock.
A black cross desintegrating
in the ancient eyes of the cathedral.
...

Ne govori mi.
Miruj s svojim preklanim jezikom.

Ne glej me.
Ne maram tvojih oèi.
Druge oèi gledajo vame.
Mirne kot razbita gotska okna.

Sonce je streljalo vanje.
Objestno sonce.
S tisoèerimi pušèicami
jih je prestrelilo.

Zvezde so jih prebadale
v dolgih gluhih noèeh
s tenkimi rapirji.
Ostre svetle konice so zaplesale
pred velikimi nepremiènimi oèmi.
Obraz lune se je odprl:
kakor razsvetljena votlina
so zazijala njena usta,
polna debelih kamnov krohota.

In umirale so svetnice
z dolgimi prosojnimi obrazi.
Povesile so se prestreljene peruti
belih angelov.

In zapirale so se ozke bedeèe oèi sveta.
Svetla hladna smrt
na konicah zvezdnih zarkov.
Pijanski zasmeh lune
se je prekopicnil v praznini.

Ne glej me.
Druge oèi strmijo vame.
Ozke. Prazne. Mrtve.
Zalostne.

2



Zveèer zazarijo rubini
na tvojih prsih, Magdalena.
Dva rdeèa rubina pod sivo tanèico.
V mraku katedrale.
V belem dimu ugasnjenih sveè.
Odvrzi tanèico.

Odvrzi jo: suhi šelest greha
v vonju molitev.
S suhim tleskom bojo padle zvezde
s tvoje glave.
V svetlem curku se bojo potoèile zvezde
iz tvojih oèi v moja odprta usta.
Rubini tvojega telesa
bojo padali v moje naroèje.
Mesec bo lizal tvoje boke
z rdeèim jezikom strasti.

Odvrzi tanèico, Magdalena.
Jutri boš stala v pršeèi svetlobi sonca
naga. Ponizana.
Moja.

3



Bele roke na nebu.
Bele noge na kamnu.
Bele svetnice v visokih oknih.
Svetnice v rdeèi luèi.
Telo, zavito v rdeèi pajèolan.

Jaz sem marmornati angel.
Angel brez vere.
Bele noge.
Bele roke.
Telo, zavito v sivo platno.
Angel, ki ljubi svetnice.

Svetnice se slaèijo v oknih.
Sonce gleda skoz njihove hrbte
Rumeno. Rdeèe.
Poèasi se slaèijo svetnice.
Njihova telesa spuhtevajo v din
Ostanejo le roke.
Ostanejo le noge.
Znamenje na modrem nebu.
Samota na belem kamnu.
Èrni kriz, ki razpada
V starih oèeh katedrale.
...

Lions are rising.
Rested lions rise in tall grass.
They plant their heavy paws upon the ground:
the lions roar into the evening.

The moon, the night's bright eye,
watches through treetops.
Soft bellies slither on the ground.
Looking for the eyes.
For the green eyes among trees.
For the yellow eyes in grass.
For the red eyes in reeds.

Watch your step.
Watch your legs.

The lions crawl among tree trunks.
The lions are ready to leap.
The arches of their backs shiver
with anticipation.

Watch your steps.
The invisible eyes are locating
the spot for hungry teeth on you.
The invisible teeth will snatch
at your calves.

The lions lunge at gazelles.
They leap like roaring balls of hunger.
They slaughter.
The moon, the night's bright eye, sails across the sky.
The soft bodies crawl on the ground.

Watch your steps.
Watch your arms.
The morning will appear over the mountain,
a white
sated animal.
The red sun will search,
search for a long time your bones,
scattered in the tall grass.

The lions roar into the night.
How we slaughtered the sheepish gazelles!
How we slaughtered the shuddering gazelles!
How we tore their flesh apart,
their soft flesh on the black table-cloth of the night.

Thirsty lions drink the moonlight.

Watch your arms.
The sun will find your bones,
scattered in the tall grass.
...

Levi vstajajo.
Spoèiti levi vstajajo v visoki travi.
Tezke noge opirajo ob tla:
levi rjovejo v veter.

Mesec, svetlo oko noèi,
gleda skoz krošnje.
Mehki trebuhi se plazijo po tleh.
Oèi išèejo.
Zelene oèi med drevjem.
Zolte oèi v travi.
Rdeèe oèi med loèjem.

Pazi na korak.
Pazi na noge.

Levi se plazijo med debli.
Levi se pripravljajo na skok.
Loki njihovih hrbtov drhtijo
od tezkega prièakovanja.

Pazi na svoje stopinje.
Nevidne oèi zbirajo na tebi
prostor za laène zobe.
Nevidni zobje bojo hlastnili
po tvojih meèih.

Levi so planili na gazele.
Levi so skoèili kakor rjoveèe krogle lakote.
Levi koljejo.
Mesec, svetlo oko noèi, potuje po nebu.
Mehka telesa se plazijo po tleh.

Pazi na stopinje.
Pazi na roke.
Jutro bo prišlo èez goro kot bela sita zival
Rdeèe sonce bo iskalo,
dolgo iskalo tvoje kosti,
razsejane v visoki travi.

Levi rjovejo v noè.
Kako smo klali bojazljive gazele.
Kako smo klali drgetajoèe gazele.
Kako smo trgali njihovo meso,
njihovo mehko meso na èrnem prtu noèi.

Žejni levi pijejo meseèino.

Pazi na roke.
Sonce bo našlo tvoje kosti,
razsejane v visoki travi.
...

light pours through the cracks
objects bend in the morning breeze
cold stream of night water is extinguished
no longer gurgling in the silence
and the bird's death cry
which you heard in the evening
and which glowed in your mind all night
has now paled

you hear the jets of milk from a cow's udder
squirting on the white ground
and you no longer wonder what became of the
screaming in your head
you open the door and the sun strikes your face
with the waterfalls of rays and milky light

you make undaunted steps
you inhabit a body that obeys you
such is your body
as if it will never abandon you
never betray you
...

ze skoz špranje lije svetloba
ze se stvari pregibajo v jutranji sapi
ze je ugasnil mrzel curek noène vode
ne šumi veè ne klokota v tišino
in tisti ptièji smrti krik
ki si ga slišal zveèer
in je vso noè zarel v mozganih
ze ugaša

slišiš mleène curke ki iz kravjega vimena
brizgajo na belo dno
in se ne vprašaš kam s tem vrišèem v mozganih
odpreš vrata in sonce ti butne v obraz
slapove zarkov in mleène svetlobe

kar stopaš in si brez strahu
in si kar v telesu ki te uboga
in je tako tvoje telo
kot da te ne misli nikoli zapustiti
in izdati
...

She vanishes in the clouds
And is gone
In clear nights she swallows stars of the
Big Dipper
With a sharp edge
And I know that beyond the edge there is a
Fathomless space

Nothing
...

Vèasih zgine v oblakih
In je ni
V jasnih noèeh pozira zvezde
Velikega voza
Z ostrim robom
Takrat vem da je za robom
Neskonèno Brezdno

Niè
...

Fire reads poems.
Fire assigns punctuation.
Fast fire with charred eyes
flips pages with flaming fingers.

Who will read verses,
etched in embers.
Burned out words. Decomposed syllables.
Distorted letters.

An impaled head
writes verses under closed eyelids.
Sings us a black poem
inaudibly from the slit throat.

Fair-haired poems burn with fire in their hair.
Nightingales burn above the nightingale city
with singed wings, with the burned out
warble in their beaks.
Roses burn in the walled gardens.
Brothels burn, the minaret rods break.
Churches burn.
In the fire a charred question,
what is a poem.

The faces of clocks burn,
set ablaze all at once.
The time past, the future time
dart from the flames of the present time.

On the question what is death,
blood drips
from the fatal wound of the just born
...

Ogenj prebira pesmi.
Ogenj postavlja loèila.
Hitri ogenj z zoglenelimi oèmi
lista liste z zubljastimi prsti.

Kdo bo bral verze,
zapisane v zerjavici.
Pregorele besede. Razpadle zloge.
Zverizene èrke.

Na kol nataknjena glava
pesni pod zapitimi vekami.
Èrno pesem poje glava,
jo poje neslišno iz odsekanega grla.

Gorijo svetlolase pesmi z ognjem v laseh.
Gorijo slavci nad mestom slavcev
z ozganimi krili, s pregorelim
gostolenjem v kljunu.
Gorijo vrtnice v obzidanih vrtovih.
Gorijo beznice, palice minaretov se lomijo.
Cerkve gorijo.
V ognju je zoglenelo vprašanje,
kaj je pesem.

Gorijo obrazi ur,
vsi naenkrat zazgani.
Èas pretekli, èas prihodnji
frlita iz plamenov èasa sedanjega.

Na vprašanje, kaj je smrt,
kaplja kri
iz smrtne rane pravkar rojenega
...

You will pay for everything.
Just being born is the highest price.
A flock of mocking birds will hunt you
relentlessly.
In the hour of repose
and the hour of anxiety
they will alight upon your chest,
demanding the toll.
You'll pay, and pay.
And, since there is no forgiveness,
there is no redemption.
No saving grace for man.
There is not enough in you
with which to pay.
Your life - the ransom.
...

Za vse boš placal.
Najvec boš placal za svoje rojstvo.
Jata posmehljivih ptic te bo zasledovala
skoz življenje.
Ob uri miru
in ob uri nemira
se bo spušcala na tvoje prsi.
Terjala bo placilo.
In ti boš dajal in dajal.
Ampak odrešitve ne bo nikoli.
Ker ni nikjer odpušcanja.
Nikjer ni odrešitve za cloveka.
V sebi nimaš vrednosti,
s katero bi placal.
In sam si placilo za vse.
...