A Technique Of Filleting Texts Poem by Georgi Gospodinov

1.
The fish of text (as well as the text of fish) should be consumed
after the spine and bones of the consonants have been removed.
Notice that with little children the first fishes (texts) are smooth
and fwuffy (not fluffi), composed mainly of the tender soul-flesh
of vowels. With the growing up, hard, harder, and har-r-r-der tiny
bones take root in this flesh.

2.
'AM I DELICIOUS, DARLING?'
Words are small fish
with lots of tiny bones-consonants
Let me take them out for you
before I melt up in your mouth
'A I E I I O U, A I?'

3.
This technique can successfully be applied in absorbing ready-made classical texts. Filleting makes the text's flesh sound, endowing it with primitive beauty.
Thus
She was a phantom of delight
when first she gleamed upon my sight
becomes
e a a a o o e i
e i e ea e u o y i
The detached bones of consonants,
sh s phntm f dlght n frst sh glmd pn m sght,
you can throw away to some dog.
Wow-wow-wow-wow
Listen!
Not a single bone
in the dog's voice.

Translated from Bulgarian by Vladimir Levchev