2 Poems by Anna Glazova Translated by Alex Niemi

the sky,

cast to the four winds, doesn’t resemble

itself.

this is the margin

we are drawn into.

the rapture of birds:

to their weightlessness; raptors —

the transparent expanses

of an imagined home,

of structure

for application of gravity,

correlation between laughter

and arms uplifted:

give;

take.

небо,

на все стороны не похожее 

на себя.

и эта полоса,

в которую мы взяты.

восхищение птиц:

в невесомость; хищных —

сквозные пространства 

ложного дома, 

устройства

для применения тяжести, 

соотношение смехом

и поднятие рук:

дать; 

взять.

the expanse folded in two

between

abstraction here and absence there

is like a bookmark —

it means nothing

except:

this is a place

somewhere before the end.

вдвое сложенное пространство

между

отвлечённостью здесь и отсутствием там 

как в книге закладка —

ничего не означает 

кроме:

здесь это место 

где-то прежде конца.

Alex Niemi is a writer and translator from the French, Russian, and Spanish. Her translation from the French of The John Cage Experiences by Vincent Tholomé is available from Autumn Hill Books, and her translation from the Russian of For the Shrew by Anna Glazova is forthcoming from Zephyr Press. She is also the author of the poetry chapbook Elephant (dancing girl press, 2020).

Anna Glazova is a poet, translator and independent scholar. She has published five books of poetry in Russian and received her PhD in German and Comparative Literature at Northwestern University (USA). She translates from German and English; among the authors she has translated are Franz Kafka, Unica Zürn, Walter Benjamin, and Emily Dickinson.

25 November 2021