"a moving grove" by Iryna Shuvalova, translated by Uilleam Blacker

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
September 9, 2023 

a moving grove

Iryna Shuvalova
Translated from the Ukrainian by Uilleam Blacker

go escape while you can go escape
buy tickets for the last water train
which as it subsides reveals
curbs pavements the riverside
the anatomy of the sinewy city that lies
naked and unfamiliar like a man in your bed
go—escape while you can
 
take all your belongings
everything that’s yours
split lips cut knees
the cracked jar of a head from which
memory slowly seeps and all you can
leave just leave behind
the evening lights in the windows
the beloved exposed throat of the sky
the smell of the subway the lead of the river
 
go and don’t come back have no doubts that’s how it is
to fall into the bottomless well of a body
to throw yourself like a comb over your shoulder
to sow yourself across a field so that a host
of warriors might grow
this is how the needle passes
through the needle’s eye this is how the forest
shall come up to the walls
 
and start to tremble

 


 

їдь тікай поки можеш їдь тікай
купуй квитки на останній потяг води
що відступаючи оголює
набережні бордюри тротуари
анатомію жилавого міста яке лежить
голе й чуже як чоловік у твоєму ліжку
поки можеш їдь тікай
 
збирай свої пожитки
все що твоє забирай з собою
прикушені губи розбиті коліна
надтріснутий баняк голови з якого
помалу цідиться пам’ять а все що можеш
залишити залишай
нічні світла у вікнах
неба любе беззахисне горло
запах підземки свинець ріки
 
їдь і не повертайся не сумнівайся саме так
провалюються в бездонний колодязь тіла
кидають себе як гребінь через плече
засівають собою поле аби зростити
військо саме так голка проходить
крізь вушко голки так ліс
приступає до стін
 
починає тремтіти

From Кінечні Пісні. Copyright © Iryna Shuvalova. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2023 by Uilleam Blacker. All rights reserved.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  


Today’s Poem-a-Day poem is presented in partnership with Words Without Borders. We will feature poems in translation curated by Arthur Sze on the last four Saturdays of September, which is National Translation Month,

Iryna Shuvalova’s poem is a signal response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it is not bound by literal facts. The insistent call to ‘go and don’t come back’ starts with literal loss, but it leads quickly to larger dimensions, to mythic and even apocalyptic dimensions of the end of a world, the world, through the title. Uilleam Blacker’s translation eschews punctuation and capitalization and signals another kind of ending of norms.”
Arthur Sze

Iryna Shuvalova is a poet and scholar from Kyiv, Ukraine, based in Nanjing, China. She is the author of five books of poetry, including Stoneorchardwoods (The Old Lion Publishing, 2020), named book of the year by LitAktsent and recipient of the Special Prize from the Lviv UNESCO City of Literature.

Uilleam Blacker is a lecturer in the School of Slavonic and East European studies at University College London. He has published widely on Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian literature and has translated the work of several contemporary Ukrainian writers.

stoneorchardwoods
(The Old Lion Publishing, 2020)

“The Ruins of Bam” by Garous Abdolmalekian
read more
“A Road for Loss” by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat
read more

Thanks to Eunsong Kim, author of Gospel of Regicide (Noemi Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read or listen to a Q&A about Kim’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
“Poem-a-Day is brilliant because it makes space in the everyday racket for something as meaningful as a poem.” —Tracy K. Smith

If this series is meaningful to you, join the community of Poem-a-Day supporters by making a gift today. Now serving more than 320,000 daily subscribers, this publication is only possible thanks to the contributions of readers like you.
 
Copyright © 2023 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.



Our mailing address is:
The Academy of American Poets
75 Maiden Lane
STE #901
New York, NY 10038

Add us to your address book


View this email in your browser

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from all Academy messages.

For any other questions, please visit the Poem-a-Day FAQ page.

Older messages

"Ode to People Who Hate Me" by Carmen Giménez

Friday, September 8, 2023

I hate being hated even though I Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 8, 2023 Ode to People Who Hate Me Carmen Giménez I hate being hated even though I provoke it, not by committing

"Inner" by Felicia Zamora

Thursday, September 7, 2023

You wrote of communal ground, prepare Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 7, 2023 Inner Felicia Zamora “Our psyches resemble the bordertowns [. . .]. Nothing happens in the '

"In the lonely lane there is no passer by"

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

September 6, 2023 Poems Contemplating Time “A Tale” by Louise Bogan “Noon” by Harindranath Chattopadhyaya “Time-Sensitive” by Franny Choi “To Lovers of Earth: Fair Warning” by Countee Cullen “What Do I

"After Anchorage IV" by Joan Naviyuk Kane

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

of gadolinium, November-veined, copper on the tongue Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 6, 2023 After Anchorage IV Joan Naviyuk Kane of gadolinium, November-veined, copper on the

"Breath for Metal" by Ching-In Chen

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

This a story / I've kept in soft / orange inside Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day September 5, 2023 Breath for Metal Ching-In Chen This a story I've kept in soft orange inside my

You Might Also Like

Make your holidays shine! Enter for a chance to WIN $50K!

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Merry & Bright $50000 Sweepstakes ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

⚡ Amazon Lightning Deal! 12 Hours Only! ⚡

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Get the long-term solution for living a healthy life now. Special Offer From our Friends at Good Housekeeping ⚡ Amazon Lightning Deal! 12 Hours Only! ⚡ View in Browser A guide to starting the

Little Campuses

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Small towns, small colleges, and the question of what happened to the scale of things ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

solstice

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

save the date: a winter stretch + writing workshop ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

My Guy

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

From September ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

"Meetings" by Elizabeth Woody

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Twice on other travels a wolf stood in the periphery of lamplight. Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day November 27, 2024 Meetings Elizabeth Woody Twice on other travels a wolf stood on the

You’ve been shampooing all wrong

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

— Check out what we Skimm'd for you today November 27, 2024 Subscribe Read in browser Header Image But first: the best Black Friday sales to shop early Update location or View forecast Quote of the

#61: Public Service Announcement

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Starting to draw this season of 'She Dares To Say' to a close ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Review: “Monica”

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Daniel Clowes doesn't mess about. The opening two-page spread of his heart-wrenching fictional biography jump cuts from amoeba to cavemen to Jesus on the cross to the industrial revolution to the

This Sweater Will Be My Winter Hero Piece & I’ll Wear It Nonstop

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

So cozy and cute. The Zoe Report Daily The Zoe Report 11.26.2024 This Sweater Will Be My Winter Hero Piece & I'll Wear It Nonstop (Shopping) This Sweater Will Be My Winter Hero Piece & I