Speech Like Spinning on a Sunny Afternoon

by Ivan Štrpka
translated from Slovak by James Sutherland–Smith

— do come in,
into the drum (inside) — drops
from empty anti–skies patter their route–marches on to it —
hunker down — yes ideas have been sown — wispy stems have grown
ripened — (in the morning)
the demon scorched them —
a second sun also rose on the bulletproof
glass of your silence —
you aroused into an eruption of the living blind sun
into its downfall —
dot dot dot — don’t send any signals —
(drops) (marching) (to drums) (with a boom boom boom)
(to unheard of catastrophe) —
beasts power the railways —
spillages of precision — connectivity — a tender speed
blows into your face — nowhere do the tracks meet
close your lips — think of the landscape about the need for sleep —
bow to the very centre of the drum — listen
to something whispering from your guts
listen — from your guts the demon speaks — he speaks
he grinds on explosive bread —
the noise increases — from your guts — listen —
you invisibly bulletproof in the crowds
listen — grab your ear and
flush it out hygienically —