Poetry | May 16, 2022
5 Poems
Tomaž Šalamun
Tree of Life
Translated from the Slovenian by Brian Henry
I was born in a field of grain and snapped my fingers.
White chalk crossed the green blackboard.
Dew set me on the ground.
I played with pearls.
Pastures leaned against my ear and the fields.
The stars sizzled.
Under a bridge I carved an inscription: I can’t read.
Factories were being washed with salt water.
Cherries were my soldiers.
I threw gloves into the thorns.
We ate fish with a golden bread knife.
In the chandelier above the table not all the candles were lit.
Mama played the piano.
I climbed on my father’s shoulders.
I stepped on white mushrooms, watching clouds of dust.
Through the room’s window I touched the branches.
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