Poems by Mária Ferenčuhová
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1.
Zápaly Mám v tele zápalové procesy. Najmä v žilách a v lymfatických uzlinách. Kĺby mi puchnú, čítala som, že to môže byť dna alebo reuma. V mojom tele stoja pocity. Sú silné. Každá situácia vo mne vyvoláva reakciu. Neľutujem minulé. Mám všetky pocity naraz. Je tu clivota, cnenie, je tu stále veľká vášeň, ku všetkým. Je tu hnev, dokonca závisť, silné pichnutie v päte, stiahnutie ľavej komory. Nemôžem stáť na celých nohách, nesiem sa na prstoch. Padla mi klenba. Krv v žilách lýtok tlačí na chlopne, krv sa chce vracať, žila sa vydúva. Väzivo už nevládze držať črevá v bruchu, brucho sa takisto vydúva. Mám v bruchu všetky pocity, toxické látky, v mozgu mám ortuť. Niekedy sa tlačí do očí, kútiky sa mi ňou ligocú. Niekedy mám aj olovo na jazyku, oťažievajú mi pery, občas sa vyvalia von. Nechcem sa usmievať. Niekedy som taká plná, že si ostrými predmetmi otváram záhyby, vypustím jedovaté plyny, nastrihnem hrádzu a leje sa zo mňa kolomaž. Som s touto váhou sama. Všetci sú vo mne, vo vnútri, ale nič nehovoria. Inflammations I have in my body inflammatory processes. Especially in the veins and in the lymph nodes. My joints swell, I read that it can be gout or rheumatism. In my body feelings stagnate. They are strong. Every situation calls forth a reaction in me. I do not regret the past. I have every feeling all at once. There is nostalgia, longing, there is still a great passion, for everybody. There is anger here, also even envy, a strong prickling in my heel, a contracting of my left ventricle. I cannot stand up on my legs, I bear weight on my toes. My arch has fallen. The blood in the veins of my calf presses on the valves, the blood wants to return, a vein bulges. A ligament has been unable to keep my intestines in my belly, also my stomach bulges. I have in my stomach all my feelings, toxic substances, I have mercury in my brain. Sometimes it presses into my eyes, their corners shine from it. Sometimes I have lead on my tongue, my lips grow heavy, occasionally they billow out. I do not want to smile. Sometimes I’m so full, that I open all the folds with sharp objects, I emit toxic gases, I cut my perineum and grease pours out of me. I’m alone with this weight. Everyone is in me, in my insides, but they say nothing. 2. Slapové javy Jednoducho vyšli z lesa. Celé stádo pomaly vykročilo k mestu. Kopýtka klopú na asfalt: Autá sa rozostúpia, vylejú sa z ciest. Srny a srnce zamieria k domom. Pokľaknú pred bránami, skladajú telá na trávu, chodníky, vozovku i križovatky. Monotónne bľačia, no odvracajú hlavy, ak ich chce niekto pohladiť. Každý deň nové a nové druhy strácajú plachosť. Prichádzajú k nám, hľadia nám do očí, vedú nás k moru. Bez strachu spolu prestávame dýchať. Tidal Events Simply they’ve come out of the woods. The whole herd slowly setting out for the city, their hooves knocking on the tarmac: cars pull over, they pour from the roads. Roebuck and doe have headed to the houses, kneeling in front of gates, folding their bodies on lawns, pavements, roadway and crossroads. They bleat monotonously, yet turn their heads away, if someone wants to stroke them. Every day the new and new kind lose their shyness. They approach us, look us in the eye, lead us to the sea. Without fear together we stop to breathe. Translated by James Sutherland-Smith |
Mária Ferenčuhová is graduated in film screenwriting at the Film and TV Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia, and completed her doctoral studies in film history and theory in Bratislava and in linguistics at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. From 2003 to 2018 she worked first as assistant professor, then as associate professor of history and theory of documentary at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. Now she works as translator from French, film critic and editor of film revues Kino-Ikon and film.sk. She published five books of poetry: Skryté titulky (Hidden Subtitles, 2003), Princíp neistoty (The Uncertainty Principle, 2008), Ohrozený druh (Endangered Species, 2012), Imunita (Immunity, 2016) and most recently Černozem (Black Earth, 2020). Immunity was awarded with several prizes and was translated into Serbian, Ukrainian and French. Ferenčuhová's selected poems were published in English (Tidal Events, Shearsman Books, 2018), in Macedonian (Земја на срцето, Vostok Publishing, 2018) and in Greek (Palirroiaka Gegonota, Vakxikon, 2019). A Slovenian translation of Ohrozený druh and Imunita was published in 2019.
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