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Only Connect: World Writing from Iowa

November 2007

Puberty
By Gunnar Harding
was it at the Palace of Sport in 1952? a whole school class
Translated from Swedish by Roger Greenwald
A Witness Disappears
By Marie Etienne
The more she spoke, the darker it became.
Translated from French by Marilyn Hacker
Read Out Sunday
By Kei Miller
This is how Sue gave her life to God and got back her virginity.
“I don’t carry your picture in my purse”
By Doris Kareva
I don’t carry your picture in my purse;
Translated from Estonian by Tiina Aleman
“The reader casts his shadow over the poem”
By Doris Kareva
The reader casts his shadow over the poem.
Translated from Estonian by Tiina Aleman
“The sparks from your firesmoky eyes”
By Doris Kareva
The sparks from your firesmoky eyes
Translated from Estonian by Tiina Aleman
“Idleness Is Often Empowering . . . “
By Doris Kareva
Idleness is often empowering,
Translated from Estonian by Tiina Aleman
A Classical Education
By Saša Stanišiç
“And Mister Mozart didn’t fasten his seatbelt either,” the little monster tattled.
Translated from German by Saša Stanišiç & Janet Hendrickson
Moon
By Xi Chuan
So many things follow us / like the moon, listening for our primal cries.
Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell
At 30
By Xi Chuan
The first ten years of my life,
Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell
Discovery
By Xi Chuan
even ants tremble at nightfall
Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell
Landing
By Xi Chuan
Flying over God’s mountains, canyons, wastelands
Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell
Only Connect
By Christopher Merrill
Thus in the IWP we try to connectówriters to other writers, readers, translators, students, and Americans from every walk of life.
The Shakes
By Rafael Courtoisie
Yes, now I drink the amber, Scotch. Because of my liver, you know.
Translated from Spanish by Patricia Anne Odber de Baubeta
V. Samsara
By Hana Andronikova
I have always been intrigued by the fact that cows in India are sacred.
Translated from Czech by David Short
Ten Short Pieces
By Alex Epstein
Who, these days, hasn’t woken from a dream of murdering an angel?
Translated from Hebrew by Becka Mara McKay
Multilingual
White Birds in a Black Space
By Ashur Etwebi
You may walk into the spaces of mildness and obedience / with the rebellious, the dreamers and the scared;
Translated from Arabic by the author
Gulliver in Icelandic
By Etgar Keret
On my first day, I was overcome with dread.
Translated from Hebrew by Miriam Shlesinger
Crying over Light Green
By Ra Heeduk
No, the word “green” is hardly adequate.
Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill
Scale and Stairs
By Ra Heeduk
The child reflected in the black sheen of the piano
Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill
Cutting off a Finger
By Ra Heeduk
My mother’s finger was cut off / by a slamming door.
Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill
How Far Does the Light
By Ra Heeduk
That pomegranate lives the same life,
Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill
Underground Flower
By Ra Heeduk
There is an orchid that only blooms underground.
Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill
The Jungle
By István László G.
It was dark like the inside of a / piano,
Translated from Hungarian by István Geher
Crystal-Study
By István László G.
Your neckline, like a glacier / among the ice-slopes of your skin, displays
Translated from Hungarian by István Geher
Tired Theseus
By István László G.
You took down the pale blue garbage bag / with yogurt caps, banana skins, colors
Translated from Hungarian by István Geher
For the Voice of the Psalms
By István László G.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
Translated from Hungarian by István Geher
Aqua Fortis
By István László G.
You don’t deserve the Light.
Translated from Hungarian by István Geher
Almost Parnassus
By Gentian Çoçoli
Now comes the labor of descent.
Translated from Albanian by Erica Weitzman