Seasonal Plots (III)

--Małgorzata Lebda (trans. by Mira Rosenthal)

The coming of what’s luminous right up to the

sideboard; summer; the work of what’s luminous on

the skin in the region of the clavicle; redness;

separated bones of ice in deep glasses, above all the

cold from them; mint; red currant; gooseberries; the

falling into sleep in the middle of the day—like a

child; the waking like an adult; work; work’s duty;

work’s results; work’s fulfilled obligation; work’s

smothering debt; smothered vegetables; greengage

plums; the closing of the eyelids; the occupying of

the mouth—with the body, with a verse; the reading,

reading, reading of some poems, out loud; the

leaving of a swarm from the hive; bunches of bees;

long days; storm forthcoming (bumble-rumble); the

belly of the boom; the bellies of the dogs; fear and

relief of a touch; the watching of stars at night; fear

from the watching of stars at night; oh, what

tremendous, vast fear; the impossibility of what is

seen; oh yes—above all stars: Deneb, Vega, Altair;

cherries picked at midnight from a tree—their

abundance, their sharp pits.