Rumination
Translated By Brian Sneeden
within me words voiced
like dictation
when you dictate
and find the starting place
grasp the thread
and the flow begins
words following words
to speak then hesitate
catching it again
correcting it
smoothing it out
or making it even more feral
for effect
shaping it again
he ruminates
and all this voiced
loudly
up and down the room
and the next word comes
an image emerges
flashing before the eyes
then feeling
singular
to that moment
all of it is woven
and you want to say it
with words appropriate
in value to what was given you
and these are voiced
again taking shape and meaning
until the road runs out
rewilded
our steps bewildered
our decisions obsolete
until the trees the roots the branches
the buildings
seal the path
the faucet
stops
!
Translated from the Greek
Notes:
“Rumination” is from Chimera (New Directions, 2024) by Phoebe Giannisi, translated by Brian Sneeden. Copyright © 2019 by Phoebe Giannisi. Translation copyright © 2024 by Brian Sneeden. Used by permission of New Directions.
Read the Greek-language original, “Μηρυκασμός,” as well as the translator’s note by Brian Sneeden.
Source: Poetry (July/August 2024)