{"id":8821,"date":"2021-11-11T10:22:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T10:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/?page_id=8821"},"modified":"2021-12-01T06:01:50","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T06:01:50","slug":"writing-sample-tiny-deaths","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/writing-sample-tiny-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Sample: Tiny Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n<\/div>\n\n

<\/h4>\n

Tiny deaths<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/h5>\n
Unbearable sultriness urges loud breaths<\/h5>\n
sleeping in the same room<\/h5>\n
angst heavier than the air<\/h5>\n
fills out the space like carbon dioxide<\/h5>\n
and we suffocate in the nightmare<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
in father’s dream emptiness proliferates<\/h5>\n
like potato bugs<\/h5>\n
until they\u2019ve completely destroyed the crops<\/h5>\n
at times he coughs<\/h5>\n
like a cat trying to cough up<\/h5>\n
a ball of fur<\/h5>\n
brother grinds his teeth<\/h5>\n
mother is motionless<\/h5>\n
her lips pressed<\/h5>\n
alike our lady\u2019s in the painting she prays to<\/h5>\n
now and then i lean over her face<\/h5>\n
to check if she\u2019s breathing<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
i listen and<\/h5>\n
as we are outgrowing our already tight shoes<\/h5>\n
as our hair is growing darker<\/h5>\n
and our cartilage erodes as we run<\/h5>\n
the atmosphere outside combusts<\/h5>\n
and the child bodies in us burn<\/h5>\n
like birthday candles<\/h5>\n
so rapid that in the morning we<\/h5>\n
do not remember<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Translated by Marina Veverec<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rabbit deaths<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/h5>\n
we stored death into animals with care<\/h5>\n
feeding them freshly cut grass and hay<\/h5>\n
and then drew the same death out of them painlessly<\/h5>\n
one incision under the neck<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
rabbit fur always hung from the old walnut tree<\/h5>\n
like an oversized coat<\/h5>\n
and next to the fur suit<\/h5>\n
the muscles we stripped bare<\/h5>\n
gazed at us in shame<\/h5>\n
and swayed in the gusts of wind<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
my father\u2019s stiff body mother<\/h5>\n
found by the rabbit hutch<\/h5>\n
one september morning<\/h5>\n
thus suspecting the axiom<\/h5>\n
we are rarely aware of<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
the death we feed to others<\/h5>\n
sometimes by chance<\/h5>\n
comes back into ourselves<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Translated by Marina Veverec<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n

Hunt<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n
<\/h5>\n
We had to wait for the light to transform<\/h5>\n
into a mass inside of the womb, for cruelty to turn<\/h5>\n
into birth<\/h5>\n
so that the afforestation of Borneo could begin<\/h5>\n
You often plunge your face into the grieving stumps<\/h5>\n
and I know that you\u2019re asking me<\/h5>\n
if there is any sense in<\/h5>\n
forcing someone to survive in this world<\/h5>\n
here and now<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Mother said<\/h5>\n
When the milk starts to scream<\/h5>\n
you must remain brave and silent like a felled tree<\/h5>\n
She said that the body is porous<\/h5>\n
and you should not mind<\/h5>\n
if you recognize the designs on the kitchen tablecloth<\/h5>\n
in the chambers of your heart<\/h5>\n
A bad mother bears the genetic mutation of solicitude<\/h5>\n
A bad mother sometimes gives birth to a good mother<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Other women said<\/h5>\n
your feet would grow bigger,<\/h5>\n
but from words,<\/h5>\n
not from giving birth<\/h5>\n
Outside my belly they are studying my measurements<\/h5>\n
A public dance of dandruff,<\/h5>\n
the evergreens displayed above their lips,<\/h5>\n
I\u2019m cutting up<\/h5>\n
autumn in thirds,<\/h5>\n
puffing a firm skeleton into my belly<\/h5>\n
just like a glass-blower<\/h5>\n
creating a stable armature<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
They observe me stroking my belly<\/h5>\n
in my mother tongue<\/h5>\n
baby talking to a beech, a wolf and a nettle<\/h5>\n
who surreptitiously<\/h5>\n
hurl themselves down<\/h5>\n
into a single being<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Translated by Damir \u0160odan<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n

Statement on Caution<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n
<\/h5>\n
I leave so much unspoken<\/h5>\n
Stooped and scared, invisible, indivisible,<\/h5>\n
naming stones after the first people,<\/h5>\n
telling the silences apart,<\/h5>\n
for years I\u2019ve addressed<\/h5>\n
every pain by the same name<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Since my conception I\u2019d been a silent body of subsistence<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
In the summer, you poured a river to pull me by the foot<\/h5>\n
In autumn, I already spoke to the surface of our flat<\/h5>\n
Thus we\u2019ve become the bread rising in the oven,<\/h5>\n
the dust under the kitchen cabinet,<\/h5>\n
after hurtful words, a shrewd place of silence<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Here, we force not one thing open<\/h5>\n
not a jar, not a letter, not an eye<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Wrapped in wistfulness, we smear SPF fifty over our skin<\/h5>\n
to keep this abrupt enchantment from scorching,<\/h5>\n
observing the salty stillness as it rests on our hairs<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Here, we force not one thing open<\/h5>\n
not the doors, not the windows, not the mouth<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
You\u2019ll keep quiet for long<\/h5>\n
Dressed up as me<\/h5>\n
Collecting photons in the uncombed hair<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
Translated by Marina Veverec<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tiny deaths Unbearable sultriness urges loud breaths sl   …\u66f4\u591a\u5185\u5bb9<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8821"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9779,"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8821\/revisions\/9779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eu-china.literaryfestival.eu\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}