THE DOOR IS OPEN
No, I don't want to tame you,
you'd lose your animal charm.
Your wiliness and nervousness
excite me,
they belong to your exotic breed.
You can't escape me
because the door is always open.
You can't betray me
because I don't demand fidelity.
Give me your hand,
we'll dance
through the laughing darkness.
With sacred bells
on our arms and legs,
the movement of the dance
as supple as ancient Arabic writing,
our hair singing
like a Greek chorus.
Elemental bliss
organised into a mystery play.
Only just domesticated,
like you.
ANNA SWIR
Translated from the Polish by Grazyna Baran and Margaret Marshment
No, I don't want to tame you,
you'd lose your animal charm.
Your wiliness and nervousness
excite me,
they belong to your exotic breed.
You can't escape me
because the door is always open.
You can't betray me
because I don't demand fidelity.
Give me your hand,
we'll dance
through the laughing darkness.
With sacred bells
on our arms and legs,
the movement of the dance
as supple as ancient Arabic writing,
our hair singing
like a Greek chorus.
Elemental bliss
organised into a mystery play.
Only just domesticated,
like you.
ANNA SWIR
Translated from the Polish by Grazyna Baran and Margaret Marshment
Oh man, your eye for drape and tailoring. Mine tends to think about color combinations, but I don't see the construction behind the clothes at all.
ReplyDeleteI admire and enjoy wearing colours - and I love colour makeup, after all! - but it's much easier to concentrate on proportions, composition, line. I assume it's a remnant of my past as a goth-lite, although Melissa's penchant for monochromatic photography no doubt plays a role too. I only rarely wear an outfit that contains more than 3 colours.
ReplyDeleteI love this look so much. So very cool.
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated note, have you been following Chiara's visit to Shanghai?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theblondesalad.com/
She has the air I feel of some haughty French Resistance spy. I love her beret and dark bangs, how they echo the bold lines of her jacket and skirt.
ReplyDeleteI haven't come across that blog before, but It's always interesting to see my birthplace through a foreigner's eyes. :)
Extremely striking image. There are certain aesthetics that are very easy to pull off (they are usually a matter of taking more care with grooming having the right mannerisms and accoutrements), and some that are much more difficult. It's nothing to do with being high-maintenance, but a sort of rawness (I would say confidence and self-possession, but those words in themselves imply cultivation). I like how that ties into the theme of the poem--untamed and wild love--when the impulse is usually to domesticate / conquer the object of one's affections.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite aggressive, angular, but laid-back, not hypersexualised or cute or fanciful. I am extremely stubborn and “take me as you find me", so I'm very attracted to that kind of style.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is commenting on the photo and its pose and not the actual poem. Which is pretty great in itself, even in translation. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDelete