Translator Statement
Ekaterina Yosifova is a beloved Bulgarian poet. She is respected and known for her unassuming style of peering into the present moment, sizing up her place in the web of life. She takes her time, looks closely, listens intently to objects, concepts, events, and allows each and every one to reveal its knowledge to her. Then she holds that knowledge until it she is able to present it to us in the form of an Ekaterina Yosifova poem—a gem of wisdom that is able to wink at itself, a seemingly two-dimensional work that displays additional layers on subsequent readings. These two poems are a recent sample of this poet’s work. In “I ASSUME A COMFORTABLE POSITION,” she talks about the quiet, nonviolent rebellion of reading and tending to our own spiritual and intellectual needs. In “WORD WEB,” I see a speaker who values her own individuality and is determined to live her life on her own terms. There is humor in both works, and this complete lack of self-importance makes the work more significant in the eyes of this reader.
I ASSUME A COMFORTABLE POSITION
on the couch, the pillow, the fluffy blanket,
the books.
The lighting is also good.
Nobody enters,
though I don’t lose hope
that someone would come in and say
with reproach:
this government also fell,
yet you’re reading Lao Tzu.
To which I’d answer:
exactly.
WORD WEB
Since we are
more or less connected,
with more or less visible
colorful threads,
to the heads, pockets, genitals,
clothes, tongues and so on
a beautiful cobweb conjoining
and still after all
skipping someone
and why
and who
I hope,
me too.
