Hot Off the Drafting Table ...
After the big job of finishing up and publishing Marçal’s masterpiece, Witch in Mourning, which I started literally 10 years ago, I've become interested in her first book, Cau de llunes (Lair of Moons).
The inital going was rough--Marçal’s idiosyncratic language can be a real challenge to the translator--and I'm still listening for the voice of this book.
But I'm reasonably happy with this version of the first poem in the book, an introduction to the themes and ruling images of what is to follow.
Curtains burn
the panes, the anguish.
The chasm of midnight.
Outside, worms
grate the moon.
One o’clock tolls.
Love hangs
strangled from a tree.
The clock has stopped.
La cortina crema
vidres, neguit.
Freu de mitjanit.
A fora els cucs
rauen la lluna.
Toquen la una.
Penja d’un abre
l’amor, escanyada.
El rellotge es para.