by Radu Andriescu | Translated from the Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin with the author
On a collective farm in Panciu I climbed with a turkey hen
to the roof of the canteen
we looked around, it was fantastic, I was chortling
she was clucking, a bit frightened
she was a white turkey hen
we could hear voices songs loud curses from the dining hall
the long dormitories next door oozed silence
on all sides only grapevines, I clutched her to my breast
she was frightened
she was like a book you open for the first time
I took her to the canteen, I placed her in front of the singers
her shy movements were more graceful than
a ballerina’s
in her whitest tutu
I took her into the dormitories, I swallowed the protests
she was whiter than the bed sheets
from the roof of the canteen we’d seen the world together
Born in Iasi on June 9, 1962, Radu Andriescu has authored six books of poetry. He teaches American literature at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, where his study of contemporary Romanian poetry, Parallelisms and Cultural Influences in Contemporary Romanian Poetry (2005), was published.
Adam J. Sorkin has translated more than seventy books of contemporary Romanian poetry. His recent translations include Dangerous Caprices by Nora Iuga, translated with Diana Manole (Naked Eye Publishing); California (on the Someș) by Ruxandra Cesereanu, translated with the poet (Black Widow Press); Dinner with Marx by Matei Vișniec, translated with Lidia Vianu (New Meridian Arts); and most recently, Canting Arms by Emilian Galaicu-Păun, with multiple co-translators (Deep Vellum).
Photo credit: Nancy Sorkin