Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Barbara Korun

Every Breath You Take

And then the voice says: Shut down your reason, spread your
wings and soar across the sky. Animals rise in the blood out
of molten rock, a sea of burning floods me, I ride on an
unknown animal, furred and warm. It licks my cheek. There
is a tangle of strange creatures, fiddles played by melancholy
donkeys, schools of transparent fish. Nostalgia. In this rock,
in this wind, dolphins with flashing eyes, pulsing flocks of
birds.

Wax of the human, sweet and salty and bitter, oozes from all
pores, eyes are flooded with milk-acid of stars. Montes veneres,
soft swelling olive trees, sweet buds of candied cherries.

Let me sink into you, grace of the gaze, scream of seagull,
wind, warm wind that whips out of tiny stones, warm sway
of an ass’s back, fast cold olive trees, sea in its depths and
in its colours washing over head and heart – an end to lamentation,
an end to weeping: every breath you take now is a
hymn.

Vsak vdih

Vsak vdih

In potem glas reče: Zapri svoj razum, razpri krila in se poženi preko
neba. V krvi vstajajo živali iz stopljenega kamna, morje ognja me
preplavi, jezdim na neznani živali, kosmati in topli, liže me po licu.
Nepregledna množica čudnih bitij, gosli, na katere igrajo žalostni osli,
in jate prosojnih rib, nostalgija. V tem kamnu, v tem vetru delfini z
razigranimi očmi in spreminjaste jate ptic.
Vosek – človeški vosek, sladek in slan, grenkljat – lije iz vseh por in oči
zaliva mlečna kislina zvezd. Venerini grički, mehki obrisi oljk, sladki
vršički iz kandiranih češenj.
Naj se pogreznem vate, milina pogleda, kriki galebov, veter, topel veter,
ki šiba z bičem iz drobnih kamenčkov, toplo pozibavanje oslovega
hrbta, hitre, hladne oljke, morje z globino in barvo, ki obliva glavo in
srce, konec je tožbe, konec je joka, vsak vdih je hvalnica.
Close

Every Breath You Take

And then the voice says: Shut down your reason, spread your
wings and soar across the sky. Animals rise in the blood out
of molten rock, a sea of burning floods me, I ride on an
unknown animal, furred and warm. It licks my cheek. There
is a tangle of strange creatures, fiddles played by melancholy
donkeys, schools of transparent fish. Nostalgia. In this rock,
in this wind, dolphins with flashing eyes, pulsing flocks of
birds.

Wax of the human, sweet and salty and bitter, oozes from all
pores, eyes are flooded with milk-acid of stars. Montes veneres,
soft swelling olive trees, sweet buds of candied cherries.

Let me sink into you, grace of the gaze, scream of seagull,
wind, warm wind that whips out of tiny stones, warm sway
of an ass’s back, fast cold olive trees, sea in its depths and
in its colours washing over head and heart – an end to lamentation,
an end to weeping: every breath you take now is a
hymn.

Every Breath You Take

And then the voice says: Shut down your reason, spread your
wings and soar across the sky. Animals rise in the blood out
of molten rock, a sea of burning floods me, I ride on an
unknown animal, furred and warm. It licks my cheek. There
is a tangle of strange creatures, fiddles played by melancholy
donkeys, schools of transparent fish. Nostalgia. In this rock,
in this wind, dolphins with flashing eyes, pulsing flocks of
birds.

Wax of the human, sweet and salty and bitter, oozes from all
pores, eyes are flooded with milk-acid of stars. Montes veneres,
soft swelling olive trees, sweet buds of candied cherries.

Let me sink into you, grace of the gaze, scream of seagull,
wind, warm wind that whips out of tiny stones, warm sway
of an ass’s back, fast cold olive trees, sea in its depths and
in its colours washing over head and heart – an end to lamentation,
an end to weeping: every breath you take now is a
hymn.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère