Stuff Here we came in hot July, with the treasures of a whole life together shambled in boxes to be unwrapped and set out in new places: the ebon carving of Rama’s wife, Sita, each hair precisely cut, the puppets from Prague, heavy art deco goblets, a Sung fan discovered in South East Asia, a cherry-wood flute player. You were always eager to explore, and equally pleased to investigate auction rooms or an Oxfam shop. In a hardware store, you discovered elegance in a simple tool for shaving slivers of cheese. Even caches of paper clips and staplers hold your presence, and the screws, and Aruldite stored under the stairs you often used to mend the backs of chairs. Not to speak of the imac, in which your spirit still continues: nets of thought intensely lived. And most of all , in walnut drawers beneath the table by our bed where once you kept sleeping pills and indigestion tablets : your hearing aid, your spectacles, your teeth. | Maruntisuri Iata cum am sosit in luna lui cuptor, cu toate bogatiile de-o viata impreuna tarate prin cutii ce le despachetam si le tot mutam locul: statueta de abanos a Sitei, sotia lui Rama, fiecare suvita taiata cu precizie, papusile din Praga, pocale masive in stil art deco, un evantai Sung descoperit prin Asia de Sud Est, un cantaret la flaut din lemn de cires. Tu erai mereu nerabdator sa explorezi, si la fel de incantat sa cercetezi sali de licitatie sau vreun magazin Oxfam. Intr-o feronerie, ai descoperit eleganta intr-o simpla unealta de ras branza. Chiar cutii de agrafe si de capse iti sustin prezenta, si suruburile, si adezivul depozitat sub scara cu care adeseori reparai spatarele scaunelor. De computer nici nu mai vorbesc, in el spiritul tau dainuie: retele de ganduri traite intens. Si mai presus de toate, in sertarele de nuc de sub masa de langa patul nostru unde odinioara iti tineai somniferele si medicamentele de indigestie: aparatul auditiv, ochelarii, proteza dentara.Florentina Rahira Tinte |
TRANSLATION CAFÉ 2008, Nr. 23/January 15, 2008, Anny Ballardini, Translations from: Anny Ballardini – Someone else by Gabriela Moldovan – Altcineva
Anny Ballardini - Someone elseI woke up this morningand they had stolen my carmy house my bed my eyesmy mind my family my fatemy job my friendsleft there on the scorching groundI went downtown and got a plastic hearta couple of colored marbles for my...