HILARY ELFICK

The third mile
 

Hilary is meant to stop me short.
I stand exposed to answer for my
ill-considered acts, the badly folded
newspaper, lost counterfoils, poor
sums. If I don’t tie my shoelace I’ll
fall over. Start at the margin. Don’t
answer back. You need to/haven’t/didn’t.
It is the greeting on the letter from a
stranger, wanting me to buy what I
don’t need, or offering a prize I
wouldn’t give a dime for. My salad
is guaranteed unwashed and tossed
with dirty fingernails and I have
not wiped the bowl.

Mum is not a name. A function. Summons.
Three children use it, sometimes a teacher,
bus driver, once a put-down from a friend.
Hygiene matters, food has to be bought
and cooked. I am the tiger by the cradle,

inadequate hotelier, the chauffeur that
does not have The Knowledge. The one
who wakes up at an instant, turns at the very
beginning of a cry. Picks up the phone.

Grannie is an accolade I’ve worked for,
the laurel earned through a long night’s
waiting, holding my tongue, picking up
the bits. I earn it now in stained skirts,
palpitations when they hurtle into nowhere.
It’s tying an apron round a small chest,
mixing dough and cutting it, adding ‘red
juice’ to a shepherd’s pie. It is my caffeine,
fix, as I go, not the extra mile, but one
much further on, the third, where the
rainbow hangs, our hugs are unconditional,
our words no longer need their syntax,
waves lap and a resting blackbird sings.

Roxana-Monica Mîndrican

Hilary Elfick
 

A treia mila

Hilary trebuie sa ma opreasca.
Stau in vazul tuturor* sa ma justific pentru
actele mele necugetate, ziarele prost impaturite,
filele pierdute,adunarile prost facute.
Daca nu-mi leg sireturile voi cadea.
Incepe din margine. Nu
raspunde. Este nevoie/ nu trebuie sa/ nu ai.
Este urarea din scrisoarea primita de la un
strain, care vrea sa ma faca sa cumpar ce
nu imi trebuie, sau sa-mi ofere un premiu pe care
nu as da un sfant*. Salata mea
este garantat nespalata si amestecata
cu unghii murdare iar eu nu
am sters bolul.

Mami nu este un nume. O functie.Citatii.
Trei copii il folosesc, uneori un profesor,
un sofer de autobuz, candva remarca condescendenta a unui amic.
Probleme de igiena, mancarea trebuie sa fie cumparata
si gatita. Eu sunt tigrul de langa leagan,
hotelierul nepotrivit, soferul care
nu are Cunostinte. Acela care
se trezeste la un moment dat, se intoarce de cum
aude un tipat. Ridica telefonul.

Bunicuta* este o rasplata* pentru care am muncit,
laurii castigati in urma lungilor nopti de
asteptare, tinandu-mi gura, adunand
firimiturile. Am castigat-o acum in fuste patate,
palpitatii cand se reped spre nicaieri.
E ca si cum ai lega un sort in jurul unui bust mic,

amestecand aluatul si taindu-l, adaugand “suc rosu”
la placinta ciobaneasca.E cofeina mea,
mergand drept, nu mila in plus, ci mai mult

de atat, a treia, acolo unde curcubeul
sta agatat, imbratisarile noastre sunt neconditionate,
cuvintele noastre nu mai au nevoie de sintaxa,
valuri clipocesc si o mierla ce se odihneste canta.

*“exposed” (in the original text) hints at the idea of punishment- therefore I chose to translate it by “in vazul tuturor” ( with everyone around looking/watching me). This translation focuses on the fact that everyoane around is watching and judging.

*“nu as da un sfant”-is an equivalent expression for “I
wouldn’t give a dime for.” The idiom in the source text cannot be translated literally; in fact idioms cannot be translated as such, and the translator must look for equivalent idioms in the target text.

*We have a hierarchy in the poem: child( the voic who speaks in the poem)- mother (‘Mum’)- grandmother (‘Grannie’). That’s why in the beginning we have a language of discipline and in the end of reward.

*“accolade” ( in the source text)- I translated by “rasplata” ( reward) order to make an opposition between the idea of punishment (‘xposed’) and that of ‘reward’(rasplata). The poem focuses on the language of punishment and reward.
 

*Cottage pie, also known as shepherd's pie, refers to an English meat pie with a crust made from mashed potato and beef.