Five micro-poems by Margarita Serafimova (translated from the Bulgarian) Photography by Milen Neykov

 

L’éternel retour
(Eternal Return)

 

An animal I am when I love you,

and above my face, an aureole of cosmic bodies is spinning –

ringed planets; a star’s glint.

 

***

 

L’éternel retour
(Вечното завръщане)

 

Животно съм, когато те обичам,

а над лицето ми се върти ореол от космически тела –

планети с пръстени; отблясък на звезда.

 

*** *** ***

 

 

Weeping: Clarinets

 

The circle allowed us for an instant – an instant

in eternity –

to step out of it,

and then, it closed.

 

***

 

Плач: Кларинети

 

Кръгът ни позволи за миг – миг

във вечността –

да излезем от него

и после се затвори.

 

*** *** ***

 

In Baghdad of the Mind

 

The stern sumptuousness of the image

of each one of us

in the eyes of the other –

a silver mirror

of the world of primary opulence.

 

***

 

В Багдад на ума

 

Строгата пищност на образа

на всяка от нас в очите на другата –

сребърно огледало

на света на изначално богатство.

 

*** *** ***

 

 

I was equal to my moments.

There is no other being.

 

***

 

Бях равна на моментите си.

Няма друго битие.

 

*** *** ***

 

 

The all-powerful present declared

its wind,

and revoked the superfluous.

 

***

 

Всемогъщето настояще заяви

своя вятър

и отмени излишното.

 

Margarita Serafimova is a poet based in Sofia, Bulgaria. She was a finalist for the Erbacce Press Prize 2019 and 2018, Christopher Smart (Eyewear Publishing) Prize 2019, Summer Literary Seminars 2018 and 2019, Hammond House Prize 2018, Red Wheelbarrow Prize 2018, Montreal Prize 2017, and nominated for Best of the Net 2018. She has three collections in Bulgarian. Her work has appeared widely, including in Agenda Poetry, London Grip, Waxwing, Trafika Europe, Landfill, A-Minor, Poetry South, Great Weather for Media, Orbis, Nixes Mate, StepAway, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Leveler, Light, HeadStuff, Minor Literatures, and Writing Disorder, among others. She has self-translated these five micro-poems.

Milen Neykov is an award-winning Bulgarian photographer. His work appears in Arteidolia/ Swifts & Swallows, Cabildo Quarterly and elsewhere. His interests include minimalism, the natural world, feminism, superimposition. His creations are also inspired by poet Margarita Serafimova.