Poems by Julijana Velichkovska 

WATER
 
I come
in my little boots
in small steps
I paddle
in every shallow puddle on the road
I’m coming
coming back
firmly
strongly
I stamp my foot into the ground
in mud
in water
water all over
that water inside me
restless
untamed
in a thin dish from summer storms collected
then poured inside me
muddy as I am
stagnant
yellowed
rain water
salty
all my tears in it
all your tears in it
all tears
for the bunny
for the kitty
for the little rooster
for me
for you
for everybody
all tears
all water
all storms
all unstable molecular compounds
all water and lye for pig’s soap dissolved in it
the first water in which the beans were boiled
the first water that leaked before you gave birth to me
the last water we bathed grandma in
all water
called with rain-making songs
all water
all mud
that earth
from whose rib we originate
all water
that got frozen
then was melted away
all water that vaporized and condensed
all water on that street
in those muddy ponds is collected
under my feet is laid
I am the lightning that will fertilize
I am the one
that will awaken it with rhythm
I hit
I compose
I conduct
all that jazz inside me
in my feet
in my body
with water
I create music
so that I can save you
from your blues.
 
 
Translated from Macedonian by the author
 
 
***
 
night has donned her mantle of black …  black is the night lack of light why? hmm! yet still we combine word phrases between them contradictory interrelationship inter relation shipship in the night long knotty finger nails nailed? for connecting words for emphasis for simultaneous actions reality? time juxtaposition correlation of supplements gradience
blurred boundaries blurred me? every bean has its black you? night has donned her mantle
of black …black is the night lack of light why?  hmm! and yet we still connect words, word phrases with the same or different meaning we form relations between supplements… yet still yet still no
 
 
Translated from Macedonian by Daniela Spiroska
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Julijana Velichkovska (1982) – publisher, poetry festival organizer, translator, writer, and editor. Author of two poetry books, а novel that has been published in Bulgarian, and a children’s book (best text in a picture book award). She has translated about thirty books from English, Russian, Croatian and Montenegrin. Her poetry has been translated into twenty languages. She is the program director of the Velestovo Poetry Night Festival; she is the founder of the publishing house PNV Publikacii; and a co-founder and director of the Skopje Poetry Festival. She is a member of the Macedonian Writers' Association.
 
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