Krzysztof Śliwka
Translated by Justyna Śliwka






Poor Old Dick


For my mate Dworas


Apparently Dick Collins had a stroke,
And he won’t be back to his old stamping ground again.
Rust will eat away his skips. Flysheets will be covered with
Mildew. Thousands of Polish hands will freeze


In their tracks. And who will compensate them
For long-term dreams? Who will benefit from
Picking up lost blocks of hash from the grass,
Cutting-edge mobile phones,


And all this after-concert stuff? I am not
A clairvoyant but I know human nature. Certainly
Clever Roman will turn the tide. He will start
The ball rolling and everything will be back to normal again,


As if an unearthly Robocop or
Some other demon for work should have a hand in it.
But what will his horses say? Won’t they
pine away? Will they have enough oats? Won't their sad eyes


Reflect wolves’ fangs?





If you have something to say, say it now:


Otherwise,
I wouldn’t have to bury you
In your Sunday best
And shiny shoes of patent leather.





Cionn an Toir (Torr Head)


An oil tanker, where are you sailing under cover of night?
What are you smuggling under your rusty hatches?
Songs of sirens, unicorns’ horns, or maybe
A silent sob of drowned men?





Board game


Eventually everything comes to an end
At the start, so stop talking rubbish
That god, that honour, that country.
Here the holocaust is needed
Or other mental cataclysm.





Peacock Farm Hostel


Owen is humming a Celtic song under his breath.
Still he stays transparent as dust
That settles on valuables
Not to tempt us with their shine.





Dublin-Belfast


Cider from Tesco & mint snuff:
Is it a complete symbiosis or just a temporary non-aggression pact?





Ice Floe

for Jac Po II


There was ice. There was permanent snow.
We were speaking different languages.
We were speaking different languages.
There was permanent snow. There was ice.





Cisówka. Tips & Tricks


Why are you continuously meditating and bowing down,
The well sweep?
Why are you hitting the concrete rim with a gong of a bucket?





Toshiro Mifune is dead: air bubbles


Tears off the stretched moorings.





Thick Snow is slanting down:


Children are running out the school
As if they had the shits.





 Sestina
Krzysztof Śliwka
fot. Karol Krukowski


Niepogoda dla kangura - 1996
Gambit - 1998
Sztuka koncentracji - 2002
Dżajfa & Gibana 2008
Budda Show, 2013






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