Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Sibila Petlevski

Venus’ Hill

If you dared to cover my open eyes with your palms,
I would see Venus’ hill on your hand and start
climbing it to see for myself what is on the other side.
This simple flight from death would be similar
to removing the pillow from the head to the feet.
The arc would get stranded on the clearance,
a box made from only one piece of ice on a gentle,
warm loft. The suddenly made appearance
would include a change of hair color and gender,
releasing the pairs of various false animal species,
as wonderful as flamingos with their feet so tender,
half grown together with the tips of willow branches
and those little artificial people that you so terribly fear,
joined mouth to mouth, so their breath would not disappear.

Venerin brijeg

Venerin brijeg

Kad bi se usudio pokriti mi dlanovima
otvorene oči, vidjela bih Venerin brijeg
na tvoj ruci i krenula uzbrdo da se uvjerim     
što je s druge strane. Taj jednostavni bijeg
od smrti bio bi sličan premještanju jastuka
s uzglavlja na noge. Nasukala bi se arka,
kovčeg izdjeljan od samo jednog komada leda
na blagoj, toploj uzvisini. Na mah učinjena varka,
uključivala bi zamjenu boje kose i spola,
puštanje parova lažnih životinjskih vrsta,
divnih kao što su plamenci s nogama do pola
sraslim s vršcima vrbina granja, i onih malih
umjetnih ljudi kojih je tebe toliko strah,
spojenih usta na usta da iz njih ne pobjegne dah.
Close

Venus’ Hill

If you dared to cover my open eyes with your palms,
I would see Venus’ hill on your hand and start
climbing it to see for myself what is on the other side.
This simple flight from death would be similar
to removing the pillow from the head to the feet.
The arc would get stranded on the clearance,
a box made from only one piece of ice on a gentle,
warm loft. The suddenly made appearance
would include a change of hair color and gender,
releasing the pairs of various false animal species,
as wonderful as flamingos with their feet so tender,
half grown together with the tips of willow branches
and those little artificial people that you so terribly fear,
joined mouth to mouth, so their breath would not disappear.

Venus’ Hill

If you dared to cover my open eyes with your palms,
I would see Venus’ hill on your hand and start
climbing it to see for myself what is on the other side.
This simple flight from death would be similar
to removing the pillow from the head to the feet.
The arc would get stranded on the clearance,
a box made from only one piece of ice on a gentle,
warm loft. The suddenly made appearance
would include a change of hair color and gender,
releasing the pairs of various false animal species,
as wonderful as flamingos with their feet so tender,
half grown together with the tips of willow branches
and those little artificial people that you so terribly fear,
joined mouth to mouth, so their breath would not disappear.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère