Dane Zajc Poems

samotarji so
svetloba jih boli
hranijo se z zagovino mraka
zivijo v stolpih iz èrvojedine

brezdomci so
stisnjeni pod kamni
v razpokah špranjah
sprešani od teze
ki se vali èeznje

vèasih švignejo gor gor v tišino
gor gor v mraz
vèasih jim bela kri drhti v pesmi brez glasu

na vršièku samote
tam pod dezjem noèi
se vzpnejo in zaklièejo klic tišinast

iz drugega srca jim odgovori drug klic
potem cvetejo klici
v razkosanih globoèinah
globoko dol pod èrnim nebom
hitro se prizigajo
tiho odcvetajo

zivijo z zelom
namerjenim v lastno srce
...

To be a drop on your breasts,
to be a clear bright drop
on thirsty skin,
to be a restless drop
on ardent breasts,
to be the absorbed drop on your body.
To be a kindling in your fire,
to be a blazing fire in your fire,
to be a giant fire
in the fire of your life,
to burn, burn, burn down
and be ashes diffused by
the breath of your passion,
to feel nothing any longer, desire nothing.
Only in destruction there is peace, there is love,
only in destruction is there an infinite loyalty,
dead objects love with the calm of eternity,
o to be a rock in the field
of your love.
...

Biti kaplja na tvojih prsih,
biti svetla èista kaplja
na zejni kozi,
biti nemirna kaplja
na vroèih prsih,
biti posrkana kaplja na tvojem telesu.
Biti trska v tvojem ognju,
biti plamenec ogenj v tvojem ognju,
biti velik ogenj
v ognju tvojega zivljenja,
goreti, goreti, zgoreti
in biti pepel, ki ga raznaša
dih tvoje strasti,
nièesar veè èutiti, nièesar veè zeleti
Le v unièenju je mir in ljubezen,
le v unièenju je neskonèna zvestoba,
mrtve stvari ljubijo z mirom vernosti,
o biti skala v polju
tvoje ljubezni.
...

unutterable unwritten
embedded in the mystery of the world

the vicinity of its eyes
it comes all of a sudden
it drinks you
it sips yours
and you its eyes

an elongated moment
erasing all that was
will be
what you've done what you've seen

a desert comes
staggering comes
then suddenly it lunges
it spreads itself out
the shroud of the irrevocable

you know you should not invoke it
nor whisper it
you know you'll kill it
destroy it - word

I said wrote uttered it
it that is the reminiscence of finality
...

neizgovorljiva nezapisana
zakamnjena v skrivnost sveta

blizina njenih oèi
ki naenkrat pride
ki pije tvoje
ki srka tvoje
ki ti njene oèi

v razpotegnjenem trenutku
ko zgine kar je bilo
kar bo
kar si delal kar videl

pride pušèava
pride opotekanje
naenkrat plane
naenkrat se razprostre
mrtvaški prt dokonènosti

veš da je ne smeš poklicati
tudi ne zašepetati
veš da jo boš ubil
da bos unièil besedo

rekel zapisal izrekel sem jo
ki je spomin na blizino konènosti
...

On some deserted shore,
where sand and wind converse
about eternity,

vipers slither out
from under rocks,
cold and odious
they lay on my heart.

I said to the vipers,
hungry for warmth:
Drink blood.
I've no use for blood.
I've no use for the rivers of passion.
They have nowhere to flow,
they are choking in the dams of reason.

Devour my heart also.
I've no use for it.
No use,
as it dissolves in ice,
like weeping stars dissolve
in the river.

Devour my heart.
Then furl into an icy ball
in the cavern of my chest,
so I won't need to watch
the stars weeping
in waterpools,
watch them longing for radiant footsteps
left behind
on the azure velvet of the sky.

Devour my heart,
swill hot blood,
cold, odious vipers.

All is permitted
on the desolate shore,
where sand and wind converse
about eternity,
one only needs to rip his heart out
and hurl it into the famished snakes' mouths.
...

Na neki zapušèeni obali,
kjer se pogovarjata pesek in veter
o neskonènosti,

so prilezli modrasi
spod kamenja,
mrzli in ostudni,
in legli na srce.

Rekel sem modrasom,
laènim toplote:
Pijte kri.
Saj kaj bi s krvjo.
Kaj bi z rekami strasti.
Ko se ne morejo nikamor zliti,
Se davijo v jezovih razuma.

In zrite srce.
Odveè mi je moje srce.
Odveè mi je,
ko se raztaplja v ledu,
kot se raztapljajo jokajoèe zvezde
v reki.

Pozrite srce.
In zvijte se v mrzel klobèiè
v votlini mojih prsi,
da ne bom veè gledal,
kako joèejo zvezde
iz tolmunov
in kako hrepenijo po svetlih stopinjah
ki so jih pustile
v modrem zametu neba.

Pozrite srce
in lokajte vroèo kri,
mrzli, ostudni modrasi

Vse je dovoljeno
na pusti obali,
kjer se pogovarjata pesek in vel
o neskonènosti,
le srce si je treba iztrgati
in ga zagnati v laène kaèje gobce.
...

Woman from a desert
has breasts of sand (red)
her navel is a hollow in the sand
as if drilled by a sandpiper

there is skin between her thighs
moist sand: out of it grow
ever changing desert flowers
opening their wet mouths
into the sand

when he touches the woman from the desert
she is red fire
her hair flames blue
it swirls red from her navel
the orchid between her legs doesn't burn
but grows larger
envelopes him with flowery lips
with mouths mouths everywhere

as they cry out scorched
they disintegrate into red sand
the woman from the desert vanishes
he looks for her in the sand
finds no trace other in the sandy sheets
...

Zenska iz pušèave
ima prsi iz peska (rdeèega)
popek je vdolbina v pesku
kot da bi jo zvrtal volkec

je med nogami koza
mokri pesek: ven rasejo
spreminjaste pušèavske roze
se v pesek odpirajo
z mokrimi usti

ko se dotakne zenske iz pušèave
je iz rdeèega ognja
ji plamenijo lasje plavo
se rdeèe vrtinci iz popka
a med nogami orhideja ne gori
rase samo rase
ga objame vsega s cvetnimi ustnicami
z usti usti povsod

ko krikneta opeèena
se razsujeta v rdeèi pesek
v pesku zgine zenska iz pušèave
v pesku jo išèe
je ne najde v pešèenih rjuhah
...

Rain, protect me from myself.
Let me not come to myself staggering,
with tattered skin.
With curses under my swollen
tongue, lies,
honeyed sweetnesses.
With smiles of my head's journey,
promises, false
hopes. Rain, do not.

Do not let me near myself.
Not the trodden one. Not the harrowed one.
Not the grabbing one, rain.

You are thoughtfulness. Immuring me
into the quietude of drops. Drops.
Flooding pathways with water.
Making crossings impassable.
Grab him we talk about,
hold him under water, don't let go.
Crush his soul at the Škednjovec cathedral.
Let him die. Let water inundate his eyes.
A torrent wash his words away.
Let birds and mice scatter him around.
Keep him away from me with a distance of life.
The cornerstone between us - death.

Rain, keep me in the water.
Cover me with water.
Keep me from speaking.
Lock me out of myself, rain.
...