a te dziewcze to warczy i warczy --------------------------------------------------------- hej, zgadnij. nie potrafie, niby ze co? obcielam wlosy! no coz, nieszczescia chodza parami: nozycami. hej, zgrywasz sie, co sie smucisz, i tak na tyle zostalo ze mozesz mi nadal smialo i glupio dokuczac jak zawsze. to nie to samo. wrrrrr. no co, taka z ciebie kosa osa. wrrrrr i jeszcze wiecej wrrrr... Marek Lugowski 20 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois see the girl growl and growl ------------------------------------------------------------ hey, guess what. can't, what? i cut my hair! oh well, bad things come in twos: with shears. hey, you're joshing me, don't pout, there's 'nough left over for you to keep on being a lout and keep annoying me like always. it's not the same. grrrr. hey what, you're such a yeller yellow jacket. grrr and more grrrr. Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 20 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois b to (byla) basia --------------------------------------------------------- oj, nieszczesny, oj, nieutulony w zalu jak tak mozna nieopatrznie utracic te strone uszy odmrozone, jeszce, palce pokruszone, no zdaza sie, ale wyrwac i oddac na notki z notesika ta naj naj naj? ta na b? az zal dupe sciska, chodzcie ludzie, patrzcie sobie na kretyna z bliska. no, tak precyzyjniej, ze srodmiescia. miales chamie zapisane pod b. ostal ci sie jeno w. Marek Lugowski 21 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois b is (no longer) for babs ------------------------------------------------------------ oh, the unlucky you, oh, dear, so suffering the blues how could one manage to so haplessly lose the very page frostbitten ears, well maybe, fingers crushed, it happens, but to tear out and let go for scrap -- from the book the very most most most one? the b? gag me, i mean, like, people, come and get it, come over for a looksie, a live moron from up close, more precisely, from downtown. rube, you had it indexed under b. now all that's left you is w. Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 21 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois poezja polegla --------------------------------------------------------- na tym polegla poezja wlasnie na tym zdradziecko gladkim polu ukatrupili w blitzkriegu zmotoryzowanych zdarzen, podpartych telewizja, ta z sugestywnie tanczaca mlodzieza... tylko sina dal czerwone maki no i skromne musuem w niedalekiej wiosce o szwabskiej nazwie otwarte od jedenastej do piatej we wtorki czwartki i soboty zdrowas. poezjo. piaskus. pelna. amen. Marek Lugowski 23 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois poetry fallen ------------------------------------------------------------ here is where poetry fell exactly on this treacherously even field they offed it in a blitz of motorized happenings, supported by television, the one with the suggestively dancing youth... only the blueish distance red poppies and a modest museum in a nearby village with a kraut name open tuesdays thursdays and saturdays from eleven to five hail. poetry. full of. sand. amen. Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 23 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois pierogi --------------------------------------------------------- bez kaleczenia snow bez bzu i szumiacych sosen bez szelestu letniej sukienki tuz obok na podlodze bezwstydnie tylko tak golo bez okrasy na swieta czy na wczasy zjedzone zawsze zastepowane a teraz klade ci je na brzuchu tak sobie cieple jeszcze nie zjedzone wcale nie umaslone kotku jest ci z pierogami na brzuszku zupelnie do twarzy jakby bogini dosytu Marek Lugowski 22 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois pierogies ------------------------------------------------------------ without mangling the dreams without the lilac or the wuthering pines without the rustle of a summer dress near on the floor shamelessly only so bare naked without dressing for the holidays or getaways the eaten ones always replenished and now I lay them on your belly just so so warm still not eaten and entirely not greasy darling with pierogies on your teensy tummy you look nice like a satedness goddess Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 22 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois [2: literowki!/typos!] grzywka --------------------------------------------------------- taka staromodna dziewczeca prawie dziecieca szaroblond polyskuje w jesiennym sloncu godziny czwartej z ulamkiem na zewnatrz pod oknami zamknietymi swiergot wrobli a tu wewnatrz dusznej zamknietej sali o ciezkich zaslonach lezy na kanapie sama samiutenka ta grzywka obcieta Marek Lugowski 24 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois the bangs ------------------------------------------------------------ so oldfashioned girllike almost childlike dishwater blonde gleams in the autumn sun of four and then some outdoors by the shut window the sparrows in argot and here inside a stuffy closed hall heavy with drapes lying on a couch all alone so tiny all alone these cut bangs Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 24 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois w dolinie rzeki niezapominajki --------------------------------------------------------- zakladamy ze w idaho. no gdzies hen daleko swiezo z dala od gliwic i czestych stert wegla i rudy moze w chile moze w kaszmirze z dala od surowcowych koszmarow nazwalismy rzeke niezapominajka bo jak by tu zapomniec taka/ niebieska/ wsrod wlasnie niebieskich kwiatuszkow i zielonych traw snieznych gor. moze wlasnie nie w ostrym chile. moze wlasnie nie w szaroskalistym idaho. moze wlasnie w takiej polskiej polnej montanie. w dolinie rzeki missouri? Marek Lugowski 25 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois in the valley of the forget-me-not river ------------------------------------------------------------ we assume it's in idaho. well somewhere fresh and well away away from gliwice and the common mounds of coal and ore maybe in chile maybe in kashmir far away from the raw materials horrors we named this river forget-me-not because how could we forget so blue amidst such very blue little flowers and green grasses snowy peaks. maybe precisely not in the hardy chile. maybe not at all in the rockygray idaho. maybe in that very polish plains country montana in the missouri river valley? Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 25 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois semiotyka wspolczesna w herberta arijonie gdzie --------------------------------------------------------- herbert nie mile zarysowal tubylczych mezczyzn za to elektron-licznie polaczyl tajemnicze i swobodne dziewczeta zapatrzone w arijona delfinowy odplyw patrz mowia do siebie bez zawisci i nawet po polsku te dziewczeta jakiz on piekny a wiec my sobie czytamy patrz jakiez one piekne przez ten zachwyt te nasze zegnajace dziewczeta i kupcy i kopulisci sa niedocenieni w herberta arijonie ktory sam celujacym jest w jezdzie obowiazkowej na oklep Marek Lugowski 25 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois [zmienione 26 wrzesien] the contemporary semiotics in herbert's arion where ------------------------------------------------------------ herbert draws aboriginal men unsympathetically but instead put in a charged amber circuit mysterious & free girls keenly absorbed in watching arion's delphin departure look they say to each other without spite and even in polish these girls how gorgeous he is and so we read to ourselves look how gorgeous in this adoration they are these bon voyage girls of ours merchants and copulants are undervalued in herbert's arion who himself scores excellent at bareback compulsory riding Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 25 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois [revised 26 September] [2: fixes/popraw.] sliczna l/ania (przypowiesc) --------------------------------------------------------- raz dawno temu, jakies dwiescie lat temu mieszkala sobie w pysznym lesie przesiekanym jeziorami taka dziwna piekna i smieszna dziewczyna i na imie miala sliczna lania. a wlosy nosila nie jak kobiety tylko akurat w tym stylu ogolonej po obu stronach czaszki ktory dzisaj nazywamy mohawk. to mialo o tyle sens ze sliczna lania nalezala do jednego z plemien nacji seneka i byc moze nawet samych mohawkow. zreszta jak widac z dawnych drzeworytow i szkicow popelnionych przez szwajcarskich podroznikow, wszyscy mezczyzni tak wtedy wlosy nosili. a silcznej lani nikt tego w ogole nie zabranial, tym bardziej ze stal za nia jej bardzo przez wszystkich uwielbiany starszy brat silny jelen. sliczna lania nasladowala go jak tylko mogla. wszyscy na okolo darowali jej wszelakie siupy niedziewczynskie i roznego rodzaju meskie udawania bo zjednala sobie ludzi od malej swoja odwaga, poczuciem humoru, umiejetnosciami, i nadal potrafila byc urocza dziewczyna, nawet z wlosami tak przycietymi i upietymi, tak wojowniczo. sliczna lania miala wlasnego pieska od malego, jak i wytresowanego kolibra. zarowno piesek i koliber nigdy nie rozstawali sie z sliczna lania, chyba ze polowala w samopas lub brala udzial w polowaniu lub w obrzadkach rytualnych swojego klanu. wtedy zamykala zwierzaki w wigwamie swojego ojca upartego niedzwiedzia gdzie nadal mieszkala nie majac jescze pelni lat. pewnej jesieni do seneka przybyli poprzez poplatane jeziora czolnami z drewna futrzarze, ludzie z bladymi twarzami i ciekawymi przedmiotami. slicznej lani najbardziej sie spodobaly czerwone przezroczyste koraliki z polskiego szkla zrobione na morawach, chodz tak naprawde sliczna lania nie wiedziala ze polskie, ze na morawach, a nawet w przyblizeniu ze gdzie polska, gdzie morawy, no i jak takie koraliki powstaja w piecu, i ze w ogole jest piec -- blade twarze tez na ten temat duzo nie wiedzialy, tak mowiac szczerze. przyprowadzili ich przez twa tygodnie na wodzie milczacy sasiedzi seneka ktorzy zyli w zgodzie z seneka, bardziej na wschod, irokezi. nastepnego miesiaca sliczna lania zachorowala nagle i zmarla. na ospe. miala niespelna lat 17. pochowano ja z koralikami, kolibrem i pieskiem. te koraliki sa na wystawie w muzeum etnologii indianskiej na universytecie cornell w miescie ithaca, niedaleko. wiem, bo sliczna dziewczyna z ktora sie przyjaznie tam pracuje. na imie ma. Marek Lugowski 26 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois [poprawione 26 wrzesien] lovely hind (a story) ------------------------------------------------------------ once upon a time, some two hundred years ago there lived in a wondrous forest lacerated with lakes such a weird gorgeous and funny girl and her name was lovely hind. she wore her hair not in the way of the women but precisely in that style of a shaved head on both sides which today we call the mohawk. this had some sense in that lovely hind belonged to one of the tribes of the seneca nation and in fact maybe even the mohawks. in any case as can be seen on old woodcuts and sketches made by swiss travellers, all men wore their hair like that then. and as for lovely hind, no one looked her askance, especially as she had the backing of her older brother strong stag who was adored by all. lovely hind mimicked him as much she could. everyone around her let slide all these tomboy shenanigans of hers and what male characteristics she'd mimic, because she had already won them over since childhood, with her courage, sense of humor, adept skills, and because she still managed to dazzle as an alluring girl, even with hair cut and pinned so, so warlike. lovely hind had her own little doggie from the pup, and a trained hummingbird. and the doggie and the hummingbird never left lovely hind's side, unless she went hunting alone, or took part in a hunt or in the rituals of her clan. then she would lock them up for now in the wigwam of her father stubborn bear where she still lived not being of age. one autumn the seneca received the voyageurs who came through the entwined lakes in canoes made of tree trunks, men with pale faces and bearing interesting artifacts. lovely hind liked the most the little clear ruby red beads made of polish glass in moravia, although, quite, lovely hind had no way of knowing that the glass was from poland, that the beads were made in moravia, not even approximately did she know where poland was, or moravia, and how these beads took shape in a kiln, and that there even was a kiln involved -- and the pale faces also did not know much about these things, to be honest about it. they were led here by pathfinders and it took two weeks on the water, and they were brought by the silent neighbors of the seneca living in peace with the seneca, more eastward, the iroquois. next month lovely hind was acutely taken ill and died. of smallpox. she was not yet 17. she was buried with the little beads, the hummingbird and the doggie. these beads are on an exhibit at a museum of native american indian ethnology at cornell university in the city of ithaca, not far. i know, because a lovely girl with whom i am friends works there. her name is. Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 26 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois [revised 26 September] wyobrazcie sobie ze za tylko 235 dolarow --------------------------------------------------------- moge byc w islandii za dwa miesiace zostac tam przez trzy noce co by wystarczylo na zlapanie piecio-godzinnej jazdy autobusem pod lodowiec snaeffels i zozstania tam na chwile. o snaeffels pisze halldor laxness ze lodowiec jest oswietlony o roznych porach dnia przez specjalny blask, taka/ promiennoscia zapewniajaca/ mu zmieniajace sie oblicze, czasami zlote w poteznej aueroli blyszczcych promieni, a wtedy wszystko sie staje niewaznym oprocz snaeffels. kiedy tak sie zdaza, pisze laxness, to tak jakby gora nie byla juz czescia geologii a raczej stawala sie jonowa. nie zdecydowalem sie jeszce pojechac, a mam pieniedzy -- przynajmniej na skale/ takich planow -- jak lodu. dlaczego? Marek Lugowski 26 wrzesien 1998 Chicago, Illinois imagine y'all that for only 235 dollars ------------------------------------------------------------ i can be in iceland in two months stay there for three nights which would suffice for catching a five-hour bus ride under the snaeffels glacier and lingering there for a while. halldor laxness writes about snaeffels that it is illuminated at various times of day by a special shine, a kind of radiance lending it an everchanging countenance, sometimes golden in a powerful nimbus of light rays, and then everything ceases to be of importance except the snaeffels. when this happens, writes laxness, it is as if the mountain no longer formed a part of geology but rather became ionic. i have not yet decided to go, and i have money -- at least on the scale of such designs -- like ice. why? Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 26 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois w naszym muzeum sztuki wspolczesnej --------------------------------------------------------- w naszym -- nie ich -- nie waszym -- muzeum sztuki wspolczesnej ktore samo jest przedmiotem sztuki wspolczesnej majac lat tylko dwa zywe grube zlote ryby zyja i wija sie powoli nad czarnym dnem z garbow kamieni bez monet jego biala studnia wyglada az/urowo i po japonsku jak sie wchodzi bo widac na bialo i pod spodem pomiedzy stopniami a rzuca czarne plytki przed nogi wpisanym w kwadrat owalnym wachlarzem jak sie schodzi jest to klatka schodowa ksztaltu ludzkiego oka z zywymi oczetami w sobie. a to sztuka wlasnie i wspolczesna. i oprocz przepieknej sztuki wspolczesnej jest tu pelno bieli i wysokich l/ukow i swietlistego chicago strzelajacego przez hojne kwadraty szkla chicago wpadajacego przez olbrzymie oplatki widzenia na przestrzal wschod -- zachod -- no, zupelnie po staroswiecku tak jak slonce sie toczy po niebiosach przez rok caly -- powoli -- cicho -- wtedy wlasnie jak w chicago midway pinball maszynie -- biegnac do nastepnego czerwonego miliarda lecz w tej chwili tylko podswietlonego "koniec" juz poza zasiegiem ramionek gry -- a wiec prosto i widac jezioro michigan a dalej nic a z sasiednich kortow tenisowych (dwoch) jest tylko jedna bardzo zielona pilka w ogrodzie bez drzew i bez rzezb: zima idzie. a po poludniu to nawet sciagaja w dol przeslony jak pecherze ryb -- takie wspolczesne ryby takie naj naj naj no i jak pergamin w ogole. taki naj naj naj. przez to widac nasze wspolczesne miasto. to najpiekniejsze z miast -- oh no no no -- halino. wlasnie to. to najpiekniejsze z miast. nie tamto. to. Marek Lugowski 30 wrzesnia 1998 Chicago, Illinois [uzwglednione i poprawione przez moja gurtrix; jak oddac "gurtrix"?] in our museum of contemporary art ------------------------------------------------------------ in our -- not their -- not your -- museum of contemporary art which in itself is an object of contemporary art being only two years old live fat goldfish live and wiggle slowly over the black bottom round humps of stones without money its white well is openwork and japanese-like when one is ascending because one sees in white and below between steps yet it throws black tiles at one's feet like an oval fan inscribed in a square when one is descending it is a staircase shaped like a human eye with live li'l eyes in it. that is art and contemporary. and aside from the most beautiful contemporary art this place is full of white and tall arches and luminous chicago shooting across the generous squares of glass chicago falling in through the huge communion wafers of seeing clear through east -- west -- yup, entirely oldfashioned-like just like the sun rolling upon the heavens through the whole year -- slowly -- quietly -- exactly when as in a chicago midway pinball machine -- running on to the next red billion but right now only lit up as "game over" already beyond the reach of the little actuators -- thus straight and one can see lake michigan and then nothing beyond and from the neighboring tennis courts (two) there is just one very green ball in the garden without trees and without sculptures: winter is on the way. and in the afternoon they even pull down shades like fish bladders -- such contemporary fish such a most most most and it's like parchment entirely. such a most most most. through it one can see our contemporary city. this most beautiful of cities -- ach nie nie nie -- halina. it's this one. this most beautiful of cities. not that one. this one. Marek Lugowski, translated from the Polish by Marek Lugowski 30 September 1998 Chicago, Illinois [revised with the help of my gurtrix, same day]