SurVision Magazine
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An
international online magazine that
publishes Surrealist poetry
in English.
Issue Three
SERGEY BIRYUKOV
In Magritte's House
For Philip Meersman
The snail sank into Olympia's womb
eternity and impossibility
transpersonality
but
the curl of Georgette's pain
René Magritte writes in the kitchen
the coffee boils
the pipe whizzes
the faceless man
impersonates a wardrobe
The world of things
its effortless reincarnation
A few more seconds –
and the street
will dash
after it
Universum
and so
away you go
on the steamer of time
to comprehend Universum
lightly dressed
in case
you suffer a shipwreck
and swim across the ocean
of doubts
on a helpful
cloud
not understanding yet
that you already are
inside
Universum
which engulfs you
on all sides
you thump
against the corners of time
against its figured
numbers
(sometimes prickly
sometimes imperceptibly smooth)
and you still think that Universum
is somewhere there
some distance away
and the compass needle
is pointing in its direction
or an arrow on the map
of Treasure Island
the language of an unknown tribe
is revealed to you
you begin to understand
the "fleeting" talk:
universum-universum-universum
on all sides
A Dream Continued
It's impossible to remember but still
—at least in scraps—
you can memorise the continuation
of a dream
some unknown place
looking like a classroom
bags and backpacks dumped
all over the floor
a few familiar faces
though inaccurately outlined
is he really or does he only resemble
is she or isn't she
as if you've returned from Goodness knows
where or she's come back from nothingness
a conversation
full of omissions and ambiguities
glowing cigarettes the clicks of lighters
the reverse sequence of events
you answer a predicted question
scratch your nose
having learned the news
actually words are missing too
only half-words are left
fragments of speech
devastation
a continuation of a dream
a semblance of infini...
Translated from the Russian by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
The snail sank into Olympia's womb
eternity and impossibility
transpersonality
but
the curl of Georgette's pain
René Magritte writes in the kitchen
the coffee boils
the pipe whizzes
the faceless man
impersonates a wardrobe
The world of things
its effortless reincarnation
A few more seconds –
and the street
will dash
after it
Universum
and so
away you go
on the steamer of time
to comprehend Universum
lightly dressed
in case
you suffer a shipwreck
and swim across the ocean
of doubts
on a helpful
cloud
not understanding yet
that you already are
inside
Universum
which engulfs you
on all sides
you thump
against the corners of time
against its figured
numbers
(sometimes prickly
sometimes imperceptibly smooth)
and you still think that Universum
is somewhere there
some distance away
and the compass needle
is pointing in its direction
or an arrow on the map
of Treasure Island
the language of an unknown tribe
is revealed to you
you begin to understand
the "fleeting" talk:
universum-universum-universum
on all sides
A Dream Continued
It's impossible to remember but still
—at least in scraps—
you can memorise the continuation
of a dream
some unknown place
looking like a classroom
bags and backpacks dumped
all over the floor
a few familiar faces
though inaccurately outlined
is he really or does he only resemble
is she or isn't she
as if you've returned from Goodness knows
where or she's come back from nothingness
a conversation
full of omissions and ambiguities
glowing cigarettes the clicks of lighters
the reverse sequence of events
you answer a predicted question
scratch your nose
having learned the news
actually words are missing too
only half-words are left
fragments of speech
devastation
a continuation of a dream
a semblance of infini...
Translated from the Russian by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
Sergey Biryukov is a Russian poet living in Halle, Germany. He has published many collections of his poems, the most recent two being The Run of Books and Calling (both 2015). He also authored the monographs entitled Zevgma: Russian Poetry, Mannerism to Postmodernism (1994) and The Amplitude of Avant-Garde (2014), as well as a few other books on Russian literary avant-garde. The founder and President of the Academy of Zaum, which includes Russian Futurist poets, he was the recipient of the Alexey Kruchenykh Poetry Award. English translations of his poems by Erina Megowan and Anatoly Kudryavitsky have been published in his chapbook entitled Transformations (SurVision Books, 2018.)
