The Photograph of a Duck

THE PHOTOGRAPH OF A DUCK

I photographed a duck
that stood on a wooden trunk
to show you the duck and the trunk
or to say: there was a duck
I spend the rest of the day applying make-up
and then watching myself
observing myself from the distance, until I
recognize myself, and wave hello
When I am done, I say: this is a mouth

or, this kind of mouth:
and I immerse my lips into a large pomegranate
and say Pomegranate
there was a pomegranate

this kind of pomegranate
and then swallow it whole

I only appear for myself
and these acts entail storms
from a low sky of treetops
locusts and crickets
They are actually the same creature

only one had long lost its cry
when it buried it in the earth
to shelter it
and then forgot it

Green on the eyes, red on the lips
the other held on to its cry
and got a badminton racket
a racket like the one which we
as children, used to strike flying beetles
and some used to, after knocking them down
halve them with the racket’s edges
crooking its rims
and ripping its net
but not me

This morning, the duck ate pomegranate
Or, it had yesterday hatched that pomegranate
It was red
with a red beak and a red tail
it was green
as a locust, a cricket

as red and as green
as meat sitting on the grass

In all countries
today is Sunday

The day is as standard
as the wounds on the knees
elbows
calves and thighs of the girls
playing football
on a minefield
in grass rising above their waist

Translated by Hana Samaržija

.

FOTOGRAFIJA PATKE

Fotografirala sam patku
koja stoji na drvenom trupcu
da ti pokažem patku i trupac
ili da kažem: bila je patka
Ostatak dana nanosim šminku na lice
pa gledam u sebe iz daljine dok se ne prepoznam
i onda si mahnem
na našem jeziku kažem si
dobar dan
Kad se dovršim, kažem: ovo su usta

ili, ovakva usta:
i uronim usne u sjemenke velikog nara
i izreknem Nar
bio je nar

ovakav nar:
i onda ga progutam

Pojavljujem se samo za sebe
i te izvedbe prate pljuskovi
skakavaca i zrikavaca
s niskog neba krošanja
Oni su zapravo isto stvorenje

samo što je jedan davno izgubio plač
kad ga je zakopao u grudi zemlje
da ga sačuva
i onda zaboravio

Zeleno na očima, crveno na ustima
drugi je zadržao u sebi svoj plač
i nabavio reket za badminton
reket nalik na onaj kojim smo
u djetinjstvu udarali hruštove koji lete

i neki su ih, kad ih sruše na pod
još polovili rubom
kriveći tako obruče reketa
i trgajući njegove žice
ali nikako ne ja

Patka je jutros jela nar
Ili, patka je jučer snijela taj nar
Bila je crvena
crvenog kljuna i crvenog repa
Bila je zelena
kao skakavac, zrikavac

crvena i zelena
kao meso koje sjedi na travi

U svim je zemljama
danas nedjelja

Dan je standardan
kao rane na koljenima
laktovima
listovima i bedrima djevojčica

koje igraju nogomet
na minskom polju
u travi višoj od njihovog struka