POETRY TRAVELS with Anna Blasiak and Lisa Kalloo: THE VISTULA BOULEVARDS AT NIGHT-TIME by Marlena Zynger, translated by Anna Blasiak

they crept out at dusk from furnished
lairs conformist and narcissistic
white-collared rats
and slimy reptiles drooling over each
skirt driven by
testosterone after a cold-blooded
hunt

they bit into and caked river barges
filled them with cigarette smoke
and lust notes from swollen testicles
they swayed to the rhythm of clinking
and thumping glasses
they cussed in a resounding bass
and only took it down a notch
upon seeing women’s breasts

vodka gushed from red
throats straight under pressed
cuffs and from there between
widely-open female algae eaters
and the folds of reflective dresses
made of silver scales to finally
join the shadowy puddles
of pavements lights

the moon finally paled and hid behind
the clouds foulard and the Vistula – usually
so peaceful – raised its undulating sleeve
in protest and neither the supposedly
intelligent rats nor light sensitive reptiles
noticed anything

By Marlena Zynger

Translated by Anna Blasiak

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Marlena Zynger is a poet, journalist and editor-in-chief of the “LiryDram” literature quarterly. She published six volumes of poetry, as well as scripts for plays. Her poetry has been translated into English, Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian.

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Anna Blasiak is a poet, translator, managing editor of the European Literature Network and Head of Literature at the Polish Cultural Institute in London. She has published two bilingual poetry books. Her translation of Radosław Wiśniewski’s Psalm to Saint Sabina won the Trafika Europe’s Andrew Singer Prize for Verse and is forthcoming from Sideways Press.

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Photo by Lisa Kalloo

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Check out the Poetry Travels book list on bookshop.org.

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Read previous poems in the Poetry Travels series:

WHITEWARDS No. 36 by Katarína Kucbelová, translated by Julia and Peter Sherwood

DAYDREAM by Béatrice Douvre, translated by John Taylor

FOUR FRAGMENTS ON A SHARED SILENCE by Sofia Vaisman Maturana, translated by the Author

TONGUE by Nisrine Mbarki, translated by Michele Hutchison

Extract from MING by Iana Boukova, translated by John O’Kane and Ekaterina Petrova

Extract from MOUNTAINISH by Zsuzsanna Gahse, translated by Katy Derbyshire

THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST by Silvia Choleva, translated by Kaloyan Ignatovski

HOW TO HOLD YOUR BREATH by Hasib Hourani

SALVO by Charline Lambert, translated by John Taylor

CATS BORN IN WALUTS by Tiziano Fratus, translated by Eleonora Matarrese

CYBORG by Volker Braun, translated by Karen Leeder and David Constantine

AVATAR by Laura Fusco, translated by the author and Alan Dent

SCATTERED by Floriana Ferro, translated by the author

OX AND MANDARIN // A COMPENDIUM by Milla van der Have

ROYAL PEACOCK by Veroniki Dalakoura, translated by John Taylor

SNAKE DEATHS by Monika Herceg, translated by Marina Veverec

ON THE WAY TO THE SHOP by Marija Dejanović, translated by Vesna Maric

*** (MY LOVE, YOU SAID YOU WERE A WOLF) by Ruzanna Voskanyan, translated by Nieri Avanessian

RED ZONE by Iryna Tsilyk, translated by Vitaly Chernetsky

THE SPIDER by Danae Sioziou, translated by Panagiotis Kechagias and Mania Meziti

UNTITLED by Johanna Venho, translated by Anselm Hollo

THE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERYTHING by Eleni Cay, translated by the Author

ALIBI by Ewa Brzoza Birk, translated by Anna Blasiak

PATIENCE by Ziba Kirbassi, translated by Stephen Watts

HARLEQUIN by Arjola Zadrima, translated by Vlora Konushevci

SIRENS by Victoria Amelina, translated by Anatoly Kudryavitsky

JOB: A WOMAN by Dominika Lewicka-Klucznik, translated by Anna Blasiak

BAGS by Blerina Rogova Gaxha, translated by Vlora Konushevci

TONGUEFISH by Yolanda Castaño, translated by Keith Payne

WHAT DO YOU NEED by Friederike Mayröcker, translated by Christina Daub

A WORK OF BIOGRAPHY by Max Jacob, translated by Ian Seed

UNTITLED POEM by Ivano Fermini, translated by Ian Seed

AGAINST TRAVEL. FOR DANA by Rachel Levitsky

LIGHT by Vasyl Makhno, translated by Olena Jennings

A MESSAGE FROM THE ISLE OF WIGHT by Wioletta Greg, translated by Maria Jastrzębska and Anna Blasiak

HOME by Nataša Sardžoska, translated by the Author

ONLY THE BEGINNING COUNTS (4) by Jan Baeke, translated by Antoinette Fawcett

*** (RABID WINDS) by Gerður Kristný, translated by Rory McTurk

ANSWER TO THE PRAYERS by Vainius Bakas, translated by Kerry Shawn Keys

AGGRESSOR’S MONOLOGUE by Artūras Valionis, translated by Jura Avizienis

THAT’S ALL by Jurgita Jasponytė, translated by Jura Avizienis

UNTITLED by Linas Umbrasas, translated by Audra Skukauskaitė

FIRST SPRING OF THE WAR by Vytautas Kaziela, translated by Jura Avizienis

A LETTER TO A CHILD by Lina Buidavičiutė, translated by Ada Valaitis

UNTITLED by Aneta Kamińska, translated by Anna Blasiak

TWO LYRICS OF LOVE AND MEMORY by Lina Kostenko, translated by Stephen Komarnyckyj

CROW STUDY by Yuri Andrukhovych, translated by John Hennessy and Ostap Kin

UNTITLED POEM by Serhiy Zhadan, translated by John Hennessy and Ostap Kin

UNTITLED POEM by Ludmila Khersonsky, translated by Maya Chhabra

UNTITLED POEM by Iryna Vikyrchak

From THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA by Anna Gréki, translated by Souheila Haïmiche and Cristina Viti

TEAPOT by Nurduran Duman, translated by Andrew Wessels

IT’S COMING AGAIN by Michael Strunge, translated by Paul Russell Garrett

REPORT FROM ANOTHER CITY by Marcin Niewirowicz, translated by the Author

INTERIOR by Ana Blandiana, translated by Paul Scott Derrick and Viorica Patea

THIS IS LOVE by Joanna Fligiel, translated by Anna Blasiak

REVELATION IN H&M by Menno Wigman, translated by David Colmer

*** (I WANT TO FOLD THIS DAY) by Inga Pizāne, translated by Jayde Will

THE SIEGE by Marcin Świetlicki, translated by Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese

FISH by Jana Putrle Srdić, translated by Barbara Jurša

THE WELL by Maarja Pärtna, translated by Jayde Will

THE SHADOW by Pentti Saarikoski, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah

A FAREWELL TO MY DEAD CLASS by Irit Amiel, translated by Anna Blasiak and Marta Dziurosz

THE GIRLS IN BERGEN-BELSEN by Nora Gomringer, translated by Annie Rutherford

DECEMBER, by Jaume Subirana, translated by Christopher Whyte

ROSE RED, by Ulrike Almut Sandig, translated by Karen Leeder

*** (I D[R]IPPED MY PEN…) by Mario Martín Gijón, translated by Terence Dooley

WHAT COMES by Magda Cârneci, translated by Adam J. Sorkin and Mădălina Bănucu

TRANSLATION by Justyna Bargielska, translated by Maria Jastrzębska

*** (MY EYES, DENSE NIGHT…) by Gëzim Hajdari, translated by Ian Seed