HILARY ELFICK

Migration day

 

At this moment saddlebacks are gathering
their wisps of last year’s bracken, or five-fingered leaf,
orcas still suckle in the Tiri Channel,
jackass penguins chunter in their sleep.

As we stand here with our bags, an embryo
inside my child experiments to see whether, this time,
it might give life a go, and poets in a lunch break
scribble words that won’t help her at all.

At this moment the clay still crumbles
beneath our creaking house and cracks appear
like wands beside our new front door,
and red kites ride a thermal over Chiltern Downs.

Right at this time a little girl is waking from her rest,
rolls over, starts to wail against a darkened room
right at this moment there’s no time to eat, drink, read
the mail, because once again we must be somewhere else.

Roxana-Monica Mîndrican

Hilary Elfick
 

Ziua migrarii

In clipa asta şeile isi aduna
manunchiurile de ferigi de anul trecut, sau frunza cu cinci degete
balenele ucigase* inca mai sunt in Canalul Tiri,*
pinguinii natangi canta in somn.

Stand aici cu bagajele noastre, un embrion
in trupul copilului meu ar vrea sa incerce acum
sa fecundeze*, iar poetii in pauza de masa
scrijelesc cuvinte ce nu o vor ajuta deloc.

In clipa asta, pamantul se sfarama inca
Sub casa noastra ce scartaie si fisuri se ivesc
Asemeni unor verigi langa noua noastra usa de la intrare,
Si zmee rosii plutesc peste Chiltern Downs.*

Chiar in clipa asta o fetita se trezeste din somn
se rasuceste si incepe sa planga in camera intunecata
chiar in acest moment nu avem vreme sa mancam, sa bem, sa ne citim
corespondenta, pentru ca din nou ar trebui sa fim altundeva.

*The killer whale or orca (Orcinus orca), less commonly, blackfish or seawolf, is the largest species of the dolphin family. It is found in all the world's oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to warm, tropical seas. Killer whales are versatile and opportunistic predators. Some populations feed mostly on fish while other populations hunt marine mammals, including sea lions, seals, walruses and even large whales. They are considered the apex predator of the marine world, having no known predators. In Romanian they are called “balene ucigase”.

*it is located in New Zeeland.

*„sa fecundeze”(to fecundate, to fertilize) could be an equivalent verbal expression for „give life a go” and i chose this translation because I associated it with the word „embryo” wich the author uses.In addition „embryo” and „sa fecundeze” belong to the same domain (biology);there is also a syntactic relation between them: „it”(from „it might give life a go”) refers to the noun „embryo” – therefore „embryo” is the subject and „might give life a go” the predicate.

*Chiltern Downs is part of the Bedfordshire Essex and Hertordshire District.