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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

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

So many things follow us / like the moon, listening for our primal cries.

Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell

At 30

The first ten years of my life,

Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell

Discovery

even ants tremble at nightfall

Translated from Chinese by Diana Shi & George O’Connell

Landing

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

On my first day, I was overcome with dread.

Translated from Hebrew by Miriam Shlesinger

Crying over Light Green

No, the word “green” is hardly adequate.

Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill

Scale and Stairs

The child reflected in the black sheen of the piano

Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill

Cutting off a Finger

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

That pomegranate lives the same life,

Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill

Underground Flower

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