Poem
Vera Pavlova
Perhaps when our bodies throb and rub
Perhaps when our bodies throb and rubagainst each other, they produce a sound
inaudible to us but heard up there, in the clouds and higher,
by those who can no longer hear common sounds . . .
Or, maybe, this is how He wants to check by ear: are we still intact?
No cracks in mortal vessels? And to this end He bangs
men against women?
© Translation: 2009, Steven Seymour
Uit het gebeuk van onze lijven wordt
Uit het gebeuk van onze lijven wordtmisschien een ongewone klank geboren,
het komt niet ons maar anderen ter ore,
die geen gewone klank meer kunnen horen, –
daar, in het zwerk… Of luistert Hij gespannen:
en, zijn ze heel gebleven? Niet kapot?
Beukt Hij misschien vooral daarom met mannen
op vrouwen in?
© Vertaling: 2009, Nina Targan Mouravi
А может быть, биенье наших тел
рождает звук, который нам не слышен,
но слышен там, на облаках и выше,
но слышен тем, кому уже не слышен
обычный звук… А может, Он хотел
проверить нас на слух: целы? Без трещин?
А может быть, Он бьёт мужчин о женщин
для этого?
рождает звук, который нам не слышен,
но слышен там, на облаках и выше,
но слышен тем, кому уже не слышен
обычный звук… А может, Он хотел
проверить нас на слух: целы? Без трещин?
А может быть, Он бьёт мужчин о женщин
для этого?
© 2006, Vera Pavlova
From: Pis\'ma v sosednyuyu komnatu: 1001 priznaniye v lyubvi (Letters to a room next door: 1001 confessions of love)
Publisher: AST Publishing House, Moscow
From: Pis\'ma v sosednyuyu komnatu: 1001 priznaniye v lyubvi (Letters to a room next door: 1001 confessions of love)
Publisher: AST Publishing House, Moscow
Poems
Poems of Vera Pavlova
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Perhaps when our bodies throb and rub
Perhaps when our bodies throb and rubagainst each other, they produce a sound
inaudible to us but heard up there, in the clouds and higher,
by those who can no longer hear common sounds . . .
Or, maybe, this is how He wants to check by ear: are we still intact?
No cracks in mortal vessels? And to this end He bangs
men against women?
© 2009, Steven Seymour
From: Pis\'ma v sosednyuyu komnatu: 1001 priznaniye v lyubvi (Letters to a room next door: 1001 confessions of love)
From: Pis\'ma v sosednyuyu komnatu: 1001 priznaniye v lyubvi (Letters to a room next door: 1001 confessions of love)
Perhaps when our bodies throb and rub
Perhaps when our bodies throb and rubagainst each other, they produce a sound
inaudible to us but heard up there, in the clouds and higher,
by those who can no longer hear common sounds . . .
Or, maybe, this is how He wants to check by ear: are we still intact?
No cracks in mortal vessels? And to this end He bangs
men against women?
© 2009, Steven Seymour
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