Translator Statement
Ivanka Mogilska’s poetry jumps up from the page—and no wonder, since she is not only a poet, but a performer with a background in theater directing. I had the pleasure of translating a whole cycle of poems performed over ambient, improvisational soundscapes—something to imagine in your mind (or ear’s?) eye when reading her work, as the “sounding” is an integral part of the poem. She also writes from a very female narrative perspective, in both her poetry and prose—a much-needed voice in the Bulgarian literary scene, which continues to be dominated by male writers.
Portrait
Sometimes she tells unbelievable stories.
She eats the day in small bites.
She smiles in the darkness.
She is all sunshine and a few white clouds.
Sometimes she willingly lies down
in the plate of the everyday.
She doesn’t care either way.
There are no words.
There are no stories.
There is no darkness
worth
smiling in.
She’s so indifferent
that you wonder—
is this the calm before the storm,
or its eye?
Портрет
Понякога разказва
невероятни истории.
Яде деня на малки порции.
Усмихва се в тъмното.
Цялата е слънце
и няколко бели облака.
Друг път ляга доброволно
в чинията на ежедневието.
Все й е едно.
Няма думи.
Няма истории.
Няма тъмно,
в което си струва
да се усмихне.
Толкова безразлична е,
че се чудиш –
затишие пред буря ли е,
или е окото й.
Possessions
The time
it takes you to forget her
is the time
it takes
someone else to remember her.
Притежания
Времето, в което я забравяш
е времето, в което
някой друг си я спомня.
