Black Horses
Carob bean and little kids on crystals.
A cat on the crystals.
Gilt edges of the light green children,
thorns are drawn on.
Tyrants! Balloons with amber round the waist!
The clock slides on knees.
Trains burn crumbs.
Manhattan rises above water and swims.
The snow glues on black honey,
the second upright dry cut of the cross.
Fruit on the carriage rolls.
Saint Michael rides in a tank.
Translated from Slovenian by Michael Thomas Taren and the author
dreadful feasts, roads, fields
peasants, dark coiffures, lilac smells
I hear the noise, clear irruption
Alexander, I closed my mouth, when the sun went down
fairytales, convicts in brown clothing
ante murale cristianitatis, urns with oil
the rainbow, draw the blossom and you’ll be revered
the focus, the burning bush, the heron of herons
we’ll break the door in the sun, dip bread in the earth
lid paths above the evening, racetracks
pierce water with the mallet, burn the world’s face
leaves, a passion of the tongue
happy animals, happy beasts
they circle, they speak, mothers of dust
the pilgrimage of sin, yards of white mouths
here, by my death, everything springs
grill fish, dwarves, squeeze house corners in your bags
the moon sleeps, carpets
frozen snow, I see blood on the fur coat
I see iron grids, Persian cats
I don’t want to die in the steppe, I don’t go on
I want to be killed by a cicada, the earth’s womb
Translated from Slovenian by Michael Thomas Taren and the author
Before You Turn Around
The evening smells a strange flower.
The pony is trembling.
I don’t shove away from the fish, I shove away from the fish’s body.
The fish is like gardeners.
Translated from Slovenian by Joshua Beckman and the author
