Aleksandar Prokopiev

Birdy on the top of pine

1.         A fox under the pine tree.
            I saw it while reading about
            a cricket in a flower pot.


2.         "A Bare Mountain".
            Contrary to the name
            - forest everywhere.


3.         Empty for five days
            the home has grown old
            for a whole year.


4.         Before going to sleep
            my great-grandmother combs her
            hair. So as to be tidy for the  next morning.


5.         My great-grandmother
            I used to believe, was an angel
            with white hair.


6.         A punctured ball.
            There's no one to shield it
            from the summer sun.


7.         Is it possible?
            Red with green?
            Yes, gladiola!


8.         "The world is small,
            and the theater is large"
            - the actor says.


9.         This tree too
            I could have hugged
            with a child's palm


10.       He is picking up figs
            A love offer from
            a tree to a mouth.


11. - It's a bad storm here-
            you phone me. - And there?
            - Shine. And...I am alone.


12.       Middle of a big town
            Gurgling fountain in the yard
            Ana drinks tea.


13.       On the middle of a river
            Angle-like isle aroused.
            A thrown cooker.


14.       A cat on the roof
            and two yellow tom cats
            - a love problem!


15.       Sparrows on a wire:
            five-lines with notes
            - tempo staccato!


16.       A drop of summer rain
            lonely on the palm
            Touch with a miracle.


17.       What is more
            there, there behind the end?
            Only dragons.


18.       Marigolf yellow
            egg yolk is
            on a short stalk.


19.       Murmur in a forest:
            A stream is knitting
            running through a net.


20.       "The sun is a star"
            morning song sings
            a playful woman.


21.       That star, above,
            so distant, so tiny,
            has its own name.


22.       The cricket does not give a damn
            for my dream!
            It cricks and cricks.


23        I awake sweaty.
            A scream cut the night.
            A man? A bird? A ghost?


24.       Your voice - a river.
            Toward the well above
            I am travelling. Warm.

  
25.       A turtle and a cat
            newcomers are both
            on my doorstep they sleep.


26.       Rider on the Moon
            that jumps like a ball.
            I am sailing down the river.


27.       They measure hours
            the kid and the drunk
            - the time is running away.


28.       Sheep on the hill
            on the other one, sheep again
            between them - a river.


29.       They say: a landloper is
            Rudi, the striped cat
            For me - a friend!



30.       Hard, and yet gentle
            an eagle fondles a baby eagle
            instead of hands - a beak.


31.       Behind the wall it hides
            my mother's shadow
            still young.


32.       "Warm coffee"
            - a cup is passing me Salko
            the Threefinger.


33.       A house without an owner
            For the cats wanderer
            a main jack pot.


34.       A child in wonder:
            from a strong hug - boom!
            The balloon burst.

35.       Leaves on the birch
            rattling twinkle
            on a pale ear.   


36.       The old gate
            someone just the mouth partly only
            to pass through the doorstep.


37.       Washed child
            turbid clouds watching:
            "Dirty sky"


38.       I cough, it echoes
            on that side of the park
            - unsuited spring.   
           
 
39.       This tree too
            I could have hugged 
            with a child's palm!



40.       It was in my lap
            now it is already outside
            cat on electricity.


41.       An old man in the park
            is watching the smooth leaves
            with creases from winkles


42.       From the freezing cold
            the face shrinks
            but not the nose.


43.       A final view:
            a room full with windows
            and the sunset - one.


44.       A confused sparrow:
            on the icy grains of cold
            - imagined crumbs.


45.       The park without birds.
            On the branch of the street's tree          
            two loud nests.


46.       A shot in the night. 
            In the devided city
            we all are victims.


47.       A blinded child
            on the wall hangs a poster
            with a cut circle.


48.       A tree under the bridge
            comes nearer to the river
            this spring.


49.       A thin flute
            under the pilot's coat:
            a present from the East.              


50.       Midday in the South:
            in the sky a fish is flying
            in the fish-farm - a reflection.


51.       There will be no spring
            for the dry bough
            not even for a goodbye.


52.       Midday or midnight?
            In the sleepy eyes
            love is nesting itself.


53.       On the top of a pine
            a crow is swaying, above it
            a sparow is flying.


54.       "Donkey" river,
            above, by the well
            a watering hall for dawns.


55.       In front of the traffic lights
            I am eight in a row- and a miracle!
            Scent of a sob.


56.       A loud city night.
            And the sobs are blooming
            - to calm me down.


57.       Sleepy baby bird.
            The city sleeps at night.
            But, the buses?


58.       Long ago letters
            bitter - sweat crumbs
            from a abundant table.


59.       A view from the hill
            the square as a palm
            with dwarfs on it.


60.       The train is slithering
            through the window you see:
            travelling comic book. 


61.       I dreamt of an angel.
            "I'll heal you with laugh"
            it said. And sneezed.


62.       It was a hare.
            Fattened and spoiled, it got
            rabbit-like ears.


63.       The cat on the treshold.
            "Piss" - said the grammy.
            The grammy on the treshold.


64.       The palace is the same.
            The fashions similar.
            A postcard, 1949.
 

65.       On the Bol's beash
            kids selling shells.
            I've bought one for myself.       


66.       Dogs and kids on the alleyes.
            A goat in the yard:
            gipsy ghetto.


67.       I'm frying a fish.
            A cat is stareing into my eyes,
            like a mother in law.


68.       Jackdaws croaking.
            My father is picking the grape:
            "They'll have their share".


69.       On the highest peak of
            the foamy wave, he saw eternity.
            Him, Hokusai!


70.       Sunday. Automn.
            Persistant as the rain
            the phone rings.


71.       Leaned on my ellbow,
            I'm watching:
            my trousers washed in a circled whirwing.


72.       After a night storm
            all the firs and the big Cross
            leaned to the South. 


73.       In front of a traffic light
            a pregnant Gipsy beging.
            She's cold for two.


74.       A bouquet on the bench.
            An offer for the next
            lonely stroller.  


75.       A mountain house.
            Only a step from the eye.
            A whole hour walking.


76.       A stone in the brook
            overgrown with fine hoarfrost.
            An ornament for Christmass.


77.       A brook in a winter.
            Frozen, running drop
            swallowed a branch.


78.       As a yolk in flour,
            yellow kitten in a snow.
            A hand of snowflakes-whipped cream.


79.       Two yellow kittens
            with tails tied in a knot
            watching snow for the first time.


80.       The rooster came
            just in time for lunch.
            Our lunch.


81.       A lad wandered about
            in dark, thick woods.
            If only he was a wolf!  
                                   
82.       Shadows of leaves
            drawing a haiga
            upon the neighbouring tree.
 

83.       How come you here
            far from the park,
            hey squirrel!


84.       Long summer rainfall
            Water reaching stork's knees
            - the lake grows!


85.       Tree pin bounded by snow
            with a jewel on the top
            - Morning star!


86.       Winter sculpture:
            Swallow
            frozen in the ice.


87.       Sun, then snow.
            I glance - little houses
            All made smaller.


88.       A dense forest.
            An amplified choir, but
            I hear only one
            - a birdy on a pine peak! 


89.       If I only had
            a magic wand -
            I could have been a conductor!


90.       A Christmas tree in the snow.
            Luxurious with a single decoration -
            a Morning star.

(translated by: Irina Ivanovska and Fiona Sampson)