Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Milorad Stojević

The Rijeka Women in Senegal

                                    (at the 1756 Expo)



There were few Rijeka women in Senegal,
The sky’s blue blued them on the out-voyage then,
until return the arrows given and the grail
- oars milled into shadows, Thebes of the black men.

Few of them returned, half were plague-ridden –
Half were cicatrised by cotton thread –
by ancient melted seals, one bidden
by milky privates, by a tormented head.

There were few Rijeka women in Senegal.
Few of them returned, half were plague-ridden.
In quarantine they handed them over to Baal –
fed them on snakes, grieved them with scorn unhidden.

Fired them with fires, through the mirror listening,
wherein a child is squirming, as in eyes a-glistening.

Riječke žene u Senegalu

Riječke žene u Senegalu

                                     (na sajmu 1756. godine)



Malo je riječkih žena bilo u Senegalu.
Do tamo ih je plâvilo plavetnilo neba,
do natrag strelice date njima i graalu
- vesla samljevena u sjene, crnačka Teba.

Malo ih se i vratilo, napola s kugom –
napola tetovirane vlaknima pamuka –
rastopljenim starim pečatima, slugom
mliječna spolovila, umom u kome je muka.

Malo je riječkih žena bilo u Senegalu.
Malo ih se i vratilo, napola s kugom.
U lazaretima su ih podavali Baalu –
hranili zmijama, plašili tugom i rugom.

Vatrili ih vatrom, slušali kroz zrcalo,
u kome se, k\'o u očima, dijete – koprcalo.
Close

The Rijeka Women in Senegal

                                    (at the 1756 Expo)



There were few Rijeka women in Senegal,
The sky’s blue blued them on the out-voyage then,
until return the arrows given and the grail
- oars milled into shadows, Thebes of the black men.

Few of them returned, half were plague-ridden –
Half were cicatrised by cotton thread –
by ancient melted seals, one bidden
by milky privates, by a tormented head.

There were few Rijeka women in Senegal.
Few of them returned, half were plague-ridden.
In quarantine they handed them over to Baal –
fed them on snakes, grieved them with scorn unhidden.

Fired them with fires, through the mirror listening,
wherein a child is squirming, as in eyes a-glistening.

The Rijeka Women in Senegal

                                    (at the 1756 Expo)



There were few Rijeka women in Senegal,
The sky’s blue blued them on the out-voyage then,
until return the arrows given and the grail
- oars milled into shadows, Thebes of the black men.

Few of them returned, half were plague-ridden –
Half were cicatrised by cotton thread –
by ancient melted seals, one bidden
by milky privates, by a tormented head.

There were few Rijeka women in Senegal.
Few of them returned, half were plague-ridden.
In quarantine they handed them over to Baal –
fed them on snakes, grieved them with scorn unhidden.

Fired them with fires, through the mirror listening,
wherein a child is squirming, as in eyes a-glistening.
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