Poem
Monika Herceg
fertility
the precise strikes of the hoecrack the winter out of the fields
the days ripen into cherries
women into tough stalks
mother’s care is as rough as the tongue of a cat
long it enfolds and cleans the soil from pests
licks the fur of straying animals
cleaning them off the bad habit of entering the yard
out of her arms sprout the seedlings of cabbage and radish
she then replants into the throats of billets
out of her knees grow the greenest chards
mother’s skin is covered in sprouts instead of in hairs
before noon she always lays down
along the bluest bone of the sky
then with a belly full of early light
rams the morning into her womb
and grafts
the long necks of fertility
onto tiresome trees
in vain
in our house
wherever it may be
live people who died
the spring never comes in
© Translation: 2020, Marina Veverec
plodnost
plodnost
zima se istiskuje iz oranicepreciznim udarcima motike
dani sazrijevaju u trešnje
žene u čvrste stabljike
majčina briga hrapava je poput mačjeg jezika
dugo ovija i čisti zemlju od nametnika
liže krzna životinja koje zalutaju
čisteći ih od loših navika ulaska u baštu
iz ruku probijaju joj mladice kupusa i rotkvice
koje presađuje u grla gredica
iz koljena raste najzelenija blitva
majčin pokrov su klice umjesto dlačica
uvijek prije podneva legne
duž najplavije kosti neba
pa trbuha puna mlade svjetlosti
utisne jutro u maternicu
i kalemi
duge vratove plodnosti
na umorna stabla
uzalud
u našoj kući
gdje god ona bila
žive ljudi koji su umrli
proljeće nikada ne ulazi
© 2018, Monika Herceg
From: Početne koordinate
Publisher: SKUD Ivan Goran Kovačić, Zagreb
From: Početne koordinate
Publisher: SKUD Ivan Goran Kovačić, Zagreb
Poems
Poems of Monika Herceg
Close
fertility
the precise strikes of the hoecrack the winter out of the fields
the days ripen into cherries
women into tough stalks
mother’s care is as rough as the tongue of a cat
long it enfolds and cleans the soil from pests
licks the fur of straying animals
cleaning them off the bad habit of entering the yard
out of her arms sprout the seedlings of cabbage and radish
she then replants into the throats of billets
out of her knees grow the greenest chards
mother’s skin is covered in sprouts instead of in hairs
before noon she always lays down
along the bluest bone of the sky
then with a belly full of early light
rams the morning into her womb
and grafts
the long necks of fertility
onto tiresome trees
in vain
in our house
wherever it may be
live people who died
the spring never comes in
© 2020, Marina Veverec
From: Početne koordinate
From: Početne koordinate
fertility
the precise strikes of the hoecrack the winter out of the fields
the days ripen into cherries
women into tough stalks
mother’s care is as rough as the tongue of a cat
long it enfolds and cleans the soil from pests
licks the fur of straying animals
cleaning them off the bad habit of entering the yard
out of her arms sprout the seedlings of cabbage and radish
she then replants into the throats of billets
out of her knees grow the greenest chards
mother’s skin is covered in sprouts instead of in hairs
before noon she always lays down
along the bluest bone of the sky
then with a belly full of early light
rams the morning into her womb
and grafts
the long necks of fertility
onto tiresome trees
in vain
in our house
wherever it may be
live people who died
the spring never comes in
© 2020, Marina Veverec
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