marina tsvetaeva

“I am only a shell where the ocean is still sounding.
But I have looked too long into human eyes.
Reduce me now to ashes — Night, like a black sun.”

“İçinde okyanusun hâlâ uğuldadığı
bir deniz kabuğuyum sadece.
Ama insan gözlerine o kadar uzun bir süre baktım ki
Küle çevir şimdi beni — ey Gece, siyah bir güneş gibi.”

— Marina Tsvetaeva, from the poem, Insomnia (1916)

“some people think I’m a daughter, or a wife
but I am like the blackest thought of night.”

“kimilerine göre birilerinin kızı veya eşiyim
oysa ben sadece gecenin en siyah düşüncesiyim.”

from the poem, insomnia (1916)

A stone thrown into a silent lake
–is the sound of your name.

“sessiz bir göle atılan bir taş
senin isminin sesi”

Your name is a—bird in my hand,
a piece of ice on my tongue.
The lips’ quick opening.
Your name—four letters.
A ball caught in flight,
a silver bell in my mouth.

A stone thrown into a silent lake
is—the sound of your name.
The light click of hooves at night
—your name.
Your name at my temple
—sharp click of a cocked gun.

Your name—impossible—
kiss on my eyes,
the chill of closed eyelids.
Your name—a kiss of snow.
Blue gulp of icy spring water.
With your name—sleep deepens.

April 15, 1916