NELUTA
neluta buried grandpa in the ground
neluta ate grandma’s days away
neluta swung his knife to the left
and to the right, stayed hidden.
kissed gypsies on the mouth
broke their instruments
neluta played the leaf lute
on the hardest nights
he angered god
yelling in the rain
under the apricot tree in front of the house
lord you’re a brother of mine
when god struck the tree down
neluta took it on his shoulders
as you would with a drunk friend
neluta stole from the c.a.p
from his neighbours
from his parents
neluta sank the axe between the calf’s horns
and finished him off to amuse foreigners at the fair
stuck his sickle in a watermelon lifted it to the sun
then let the juice trickle down his face
neluta smoked bare chested in the shed
and spat out the blood from his gums
neluta never had a woman
and never wanted kids
neluta drank water just once in his life
neluta slept in the fields with wolves
when he came home drunk
he got beaten with a wet rope
and growled at grandpa
if you weren’t my dad i’d slit your throat
neluta buried grandpa in the ground
neluta ate grandma’s days away
he’s old now
he’s alone knows that
he was always alone
and whines about the pain
laughs at the chained dog
soon he’ll plant his fork in him
cause he doesn’t have any more food to give
neluta will plant his fork in everything
and will talk between the cracks of the earth
with grandpa and grandma
neluta asks me if i got my baccalaureate
he knows that i got my baccalaureate ten years ago
now he’s old but he still keeps his mouth away from water
grabs his phone laughs and yells dreadfully
i called you this morning
why didn’t you answer
i called you boy
but the world knows neluta is alone
lord you’re a brother of mine
neluta sticks his fork in the ground
neluta talks through the cracks
with grandpa and grandma
he knows he’s alone and that no one
hears him
*** born in the countryside dead in the city i once had a truly beautiful day woke up at dawn drank brandy on an empty heart and started watering the garden at noon the buckets were half mud half water my feet sinking in sludge trousers lifted to the knees i looked into the well it seemed like i’d loosened the collar on the dog poured in his broken bowl half mud half water drink i told him the sun had disappeared the snow had settled quickly it covered the rope with which the animal was tied a white cow snowflakes melted on its hot muzzle i took the shovel and loaded the burlap sacks with snow from the front of the house threw them on my back carried them to the pit 44 i counted by the end one by one i emptied the sacks in the dry mouth of the well it was already dark out when i rolled up my trousers to my knees again that night the dog slept outside
By Marius Aldea
Translated by Ilinca Gradea
Read The Romanian Riveter in its entirety here.
Marius Aldea has published two poetry collections and co-created the award-winning ‘The writers are on Facebook’ anthology. A physical theatre play based on his poems and directed by Andrea Gavriliu premiered in 2020 at the National Theatre Marin Sorescu.
Ilinca Grade was born in France, but has lived in a number of different countries, including Singapore, Canada, Scotland. She translated the play, The Snake’s Outfit, directed by Andrea Gavriliu, into English. She is currently working on the translation of Sinistra by Marius Aldea into English and French. She currently lives in Bucharest.