• Art and Photography,  Poetry,  Translation

    Four “Corn Songs” by Kinga Tóth (translated from the Hungarian by Timea Balogh) Drawings by Kinga Tóth

     

    Corn Songs

     

    song five

    they pierce the ground with spoon straws
    that’s how the roots will breathe
    that’s how they’ll pull them out when they’re ripe
    the others arrive behind the diggers
    they write with felt pens
    take away the dialect and unsettle everyone
    they piss with their legs apart
    and that’s when they forget what
    they talked about at harvest time
    they take the tongues out of their mouths
    with which they were understood
    and take pictures till they are distracted from the conversation
    only the spoon-holding hands remain
    squatting they examine the air-bagged roots
    this will serve as amnesty and the writers
    will be the only ones permitted to speak