Gedicht
Viktor Neborak
MONOLOGUE FROM A CANINE PRETEXT
Fido’s* hung himself — suicide-dog!Fido’s soul’ll be hounded from heaven.
They’ll tell him: “You didn’t croak the way you should have!”
Then they’ll lift him up by the tail and …
Fido’s hung himself on his chain at night.
The real nightly R movie** — rat\'s viewers
sighing, wooing,
curling up, and love-making!
Fido’s hung himself! Do you hear? — you!
Are you reading Leaves of Grass?
Marquez? Borges? Hesse? The I Ching? Ah?
Fido’s hung himself! That’s the change!
You’re called a poet,
and he’s — a dog.
A poem gnaws at you,
a chain — at him.
Someday you’ll be a pro poetaster,
but Fido chose not meat, but the spirit!
How much can you bark at the moon?
How long can you wait for your paycheck?
How much can you scrape our backsides?
Forever?
Till death!
What a schizophrenic profession —
to tend chickens and goats
and send them off to be butchered?
The Constellation of the Dog
pierces through the earth and heavens!
© Translation: 2005, Michael M. Naydan
From: The Flying Head and Other Poems
Publisher: Sribne slovo, Lviv, 2005
* “Dzhulbars” in the original—a typical name for a Ukrainian dog. This particular canine poem has a real event at its basis. Victor Neborak’s dog Dzhulbars strangled himself on his chain. Thanks to Yuri Andrukhovych for illuminating me about this.
** “Notsne” is in Polish in the original and refers to the practice in Soviet times of going to a friend’s house in Western Ukraine, someone who had a powerful antenna and could receive signals from Polish TV to watch films from the west — usually with heavy dose of eroticism or horror.
From: The Flying Head and Other Poems
Publisher: Sribne slovo, Lviv, 2005
MONOLOGUE FROM A CANINE PRETEXT
© 2005, Viktor Neborak
From: Litayucha Holova ta inshi virshi
Publisher: Sribne slovo, Lviv
From: Litayucha Holova ta inshi virshi
Publisher: Sribne slovo, Lviv
Gedichten
Gedichten van Viktor Neborak
Close
MONOLOGUE FROM A CANINE PRETEXT
From: Litayucha Holova ta inshi virshi
MONOLOGUE FROM A CANINE PRETEXT
Fido’s* hung himself — suicide-dog!Fido’s soul’ll be hounded from heaven.
They’ll tell him: “You didn’t croak the way you should have!”
Then they’ll lift him up by the tail and …
Fido’s hung himself on his chain at night.
The real nightly R movie** — rat\'s viewers
sighing, wooing,
curling up, and love-making!
Fido’s hung himself! Do you hear? — you!
Are you reading Leaves of Grass?
Marquez? Borges? Hesse? The I Ching? Ah?
Fido’s hung himself! That’s the change!
You’re called a poet,
and he’s — a dog.
A poem gnaws at you,
a chain — at him.
Someday you’ll be a pro poetaster,
but Fido chose not meat, but the spirit!
How much can you bark at the moon?
How long can you wait for your paycheck?
How much can you scrape our backsides?
Forever?
Till death!
What a schizophrenic profession —
to tend chickens and goats
and send them off to be butchered?
The Constellation of the Dog
pierces through the earth and heavens!
© 2005, Michael M. Naydan
From: The Flying Head and Other Poems
Publisher: 2005, Sribne slovo, Lviv
From: The Flying Head and Other Poems
Publisher: 2005, Sribne slovo, Lviv
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère