Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Ivan Slamnig

WOMEN

Women are creatures from Venus, except that we live together.
In order to become acquainted with them, we search them in and out.
There are some things they seem to know better,  
some things that we don’t really care to think about.
After we had fingered them for no other reason than to make a test,  
we run off claiming we had already got to know their best.  

They stay. All efforts to take everything from them seem to be in vain.
That’s what really makes us cross, and so we try again.

Time passes but they are still alien and bizarre.  
Maybe they’ll go back to that planet, very far.  

ZENE

ZENE

Zene su s Venere bica, sto zive kod nas.
Pretrazujemo ih prstima, zeleci ih prouciti.
Cini se, da one znaju nesto bolje od nas,
nesto, sto mi ne zelimo dokuciti.
Kad ih prstima izbodemo,
mi tvrdimo, da ih znamo i odemo.

One ostaju i nikad im ne mozemo sve otet.
To nas ljuti i mi kusamo opet.

Ali kroza sve dane one nam ostaju strane,
I – mozda ce se jednom natrag na Veneru popet.
Close

WOMEN

Women are creatures from Venus, except that we live together.
In order to become acquainted with them, we search them in and out.
There are some things they seem to know better,  
some things that we don’t really care to think about.
After we had fingered them for no other reason than to make a test,  
we run off claiming we had already got to know their best.  

They stay. All efforts to take everything from them seem to be in vain.
That’s what really makes us cross, and so we try again.

Time passes but they are still alien and bizarre.  
Maybe they’ll go back to that planet, very far.  

WOMEN

Women are creatures from Venus, except that we live together.
In order to become acquainted with them, we search them in and out.
There are some things they seem to know better,  
some things that we don’t really care to think about.
After we had fingered them for no other reason than to make a test,  
we run off claiming we had already got to know their best.  

They stay. All efforts to take everything from them seem to be in vain.
That’s what really makes us cross, and so we try again.

Time passes but they are still alien and bizarre.  
Maybe they’ll go back to that planet, very far.  
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère