Nikola Madžirov

Poetry

SHADOWS PASS US BY

(СЕНКИТЕ НÈ ОДМИНУВААТ)

We’ll meet one day,
like a paper boat and
a watermelon that’s been cooling in the river.
The anxiety of the world will
be with us. Our palms
will eclipse the sun and we’ll
approach each other holding lanterns.

One day, the wind won’t
change direction.
The birch will send away leaves
into our shoes on the doorstep.
The wolves will come after
our innocence.
The butterflies will leave
their dust on our cheeks.

An old woman will tell stories
about us in the waiting room every morning.
Even what I’m saying has
been said already: we’re waiting for the wind
like two flags on a border.

One day every shadow
                               will pass us by.

Translated by Magdalena Horvat

WHEN SOMEONE GOES AWAY
EVERYTHING THAT’S BEEN DONE COMES BACK

(КОГА НЕКОJ ЗАМИНУВА

СÈ ШТО Е СОЗДАДЕНО СЕ ВРАЌА)

                                                 For Marjan K.

In the embrace on the corner you will recognize

someone’s going away somewhere. It’s always so.
I live between two truths
like a neon light trembling in
an empty hall. My heart collects
more and more people, since they’re not here anymore.
It’s always so. One fourth of our waking hours
is spent in blinking. We forget
things even before we lose them –
the calligraphy notebook, for instance.
Nothing’s ever new. The bus
seat is always warm.
Last words are carried over
like oblique buckets to an ordinary summer fire.
The same will happen all over again tomorrow—
the face, before it vanishes from the photo,
will lose the wrinkles. When someone goes away
everything that’s been done comes back.

Translated by Magdalena Horvat

FLYING

(ЛЕТАЊЕ)

The haze hangs over the city
like the Virgin Mary’s bowed head
from a fresco far away.

Satellite dishes talk to
angels
trying to determine tomorrow’s weather:
clear, safe, significant
like a calendar with
red dates.

But as soon as the night joins
the shadows to the wall,
you will sneak out towards the branches
like a rare bird
from the other side of a bank-note.

Translated by Magdalena Horvat

MANY THINGS HAPPENED

(МНОГУ НЕШТА СЕ СЛУЧИЈА)

Many things happened
while the Earth was spinning on
God’s finger.

Wires released themselves
from pylons and now
they connect one love to another.
Ocean drops
deposited themselves eagerly
onto caves’ walls.
Flowers separated
from minerals and set off
following the scent.

From the back pocket pieces of paper
started flying all over our airy room:
irrelevant things which we’d
never do unless
they were written down.

Translated by Magdalena Horvat

NEW LANDS

(НОВИ ЗЕМЈИ)

One should scrape the wall
over which dampness has drawn
a map of the new world
and new separations should be applied.

Beneath them, the stones should be
rearranged haphazardly, like
the footprints of a man running from his fears.

One should be
a round mirror in an half-open palm
and reflect others' embraces
as sharp as scissor blades which touch each other
only when there's something to be cut.

New lands should be invented,
so one can walk on water once again.

Translated by Magdalena Horvat & Adam Reed

DAYS WHEN ONE SHOULD STAY ALONE

(ДЕНОВИ КОГА ТРЕБА ДА СЕ БИДЕ САМ)

It is true that the town
grew as a result of a lie
necessary for people
flowerpots and tamed animals

(that is how I provide myself with
the necessary justification)

It is true that all the people
get out of the buildings
(as during an earthquake)
and with a vase in their hands
head towards the meadows

They return three times sadder
with dust on their palms
and a few murmurs
like holes in their memory

Then
again common silence.

Translated by Makedonka Bozinovska