Tearing my hair and raking my scalp with blunt nails,
quasi-coherent, halfway between sleep and waking,
I hear my voice beg you to help me break through
the glass ceiling, smash it like sheet-ice - open a way
to this chill, glaucous cavern on the reverse side of light.
You do not speak, but I hear my voice answer itself
in the interests of reason: The ceiling is inside your mind,
a chimera: there is no glass to be shattered, no ice.
The nightmarish knowledge devolves into grotesque motifs:
my skull is trepanned and no barrier stands between me
and ether, between day and night. But the emptiness
starts in my head and continues forever, in a soul-
numbing parody of flight, beyond the glass sky.
The Glass Ceiling
© Copyright: Jena Woodhouse, 2004
Свидетельство о публикации №104071100163
Свидетельство о публикации №104071100163
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Jena, my best hope is that you kindly forgive me for this clumsy attempt:
http://www.stihi.ru/2004/08/13-98
I do love the way Vlanes translates your exquisite poetry, so I hardly dare offer my mite – a very modest one indeed.
Enchantedly,
Vladimir
Владимир Бойко 13.08.2004 00:42 • Заявить о нарушении
http://www.stihi.ru/2004/08/13-98
I do love the way Vlanes translates your exquisite poetry, so I hardly dare offer my mite – a very modest one indeed.
Enchantedly,
Vladimir
Владимир Бойко 13.08.2004 00:42 • Заявить о нарушении
Dear Vladimir, I think you are being far too self-effacing about your own talents. I love your translation of this poem - I find it powerful and chilling, and I think it captures the mood of the original brilliantly. Thank you, I am very grateful for this unexpected gift, and impressed by the other work you have accomplished as a translator.
With best wishes for your further success,
Jena
Jena Woodhouse 13.08.2004 13:32 Заявить о нарушении
With best wishes for your further success,
Jena
Jena Woodhouse 13.08.2004 13:32 Заявить о нарушении
Well, perhaps - hopefully:) - you're right as to self-effacement but I definitely value it more than self-conceit. I've seen where people were in the end of the day when they cared too much about themselves. To get better, you always need a critical look at yourself, that's what I mean. Anyway, I do appreciate your warm and kind words, especially as I really feel they are sincere which is something to hold dear. Thank you, Jena, and again I, too, wish you every success and best luck.
Владимир Бойко 13.08.2004 14:35 Заявить о нарушении
Владимир Бойко 13.08.2004 14:35 Заявить о нарушении
BTW, you often mention that your Russian is not quite native. I would say your Russian is by far superior to that of 90 per cent of Russians and your own poems in Russian are superb and sophisticated and just wonderful - and they definitely belong to Russian poetry. So, dear Jena, I'm fortunately not alone in what you called self-effacement:)
Владимир Бойко 13.08.2004 15:15 Заявить о нарушении
Владимир Бойко 13.08.2004 15:15 Заявить о нарушении
Dear Vladimir,
I totally concur with your comments about self-effacement and conceit. Modesty walks hand in hand with grace.
As to your other magnanimous comments, I thank you, but I must protest that you do me too much honour. I have so much still to learn. But I sense that your words are motivated by generosity and graciousness, and also sincerity, and this in itself is something to cherish. I shall try to live up to them.
With warm regards,
Jena
Jena Woodhouse 14.08.2004 12:55 Заявить о нарушении
I totally concur with your comments about self-effacement and conceit. Modesty walks hand in hand with grace.
As to your other magnanimous comments, I thank you, but I must protest that you do me too much honour. I have so much still to learn. But I sense that your words are motivated by generosity and graciousness, and also sincerity, and this in itself is something to cherish. I shall try to live up to them.
With warm regards,
Jena
Jena Woodhouse 14.08.2004 12:55 Заявить о нарушении