The island sight-seeing Poem by Branko Čegec

the repertory unexpectedly worsened.
the singer began to loose his ear and his voice.
the heat was insufferable, the headache seemingly endless;
the tepid beer, the intolerable racket,
nervous and standoffish girls:
god, what chaos in my head!
I should have been clearheaded by now
going round in a little boat,
the island's careless naturists
sun-bathed their wholesome selves,
their pretty, ugly, fumbling, elegant selves:
čedo ogled lone beauties basking on the rocks,
then, importantly picking the binoculars,
he'd examine the details with essayistic care:
then he anchored abruptly and plopped into the sea:
fucking balmy water! - he said calmly
čedo, a skipper based in hamburg,
today his ship was sent to a scrap yard
but he had not shed a tear,
instead he calmly soaked up the smooth skin
of a young and playful german girl
who unruffled swam past
the anchored boat
and bobbing in the hot afternoon sun,
so naked and unique,
called her undecided boyfriend
who was still lazily taking off
his underwear in a wild and porous rock outcrop

2001-08-12

Translated by Boris Gregorić