The New Polish Poetry feature
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Reprinted with permission from Altered State — The New Polish Poetry. Edited by Rod Mengham, Tadeusz Pióro and Piotr Szymor. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2003. Price: £10.95. This selection was chosen by Rod Mengham and John Tranter. Visit the publisher’s website.
Krzysztof Jaworski
Poem
I Used to be a Slender Guy
I used to be a slender guy.
And I put on weight like Elvis.
Mother, my wife and Sendecki say:
Jaworski, you should see your breasts (except
Mother says ‘Son.’) Not breasts,
my friends, I reply, but muscles. At present
in retirement (except
I call Mother
‘Mother.’)
Just like Elvis.
I’ve nothing to say, refuse to sing.
Translated by Tadeusz Pióro.
Krzysztof Jaworski was born in 1966 and lives in Kielce, where he teaches Polish literature at the local teachers’ college. He is the author of a book on the Polish Futurist poet Bruno Jasieński, a novel entitled Pod prąd [Against the Current], two collections of short stories, a play and several screenplays.
His publications include:
Wiersze 1988-92 [Poems 1988-92] (Warszawa: bruLion, 1992)
5 poematów [5 Long Poems] (Kielce, 1996)
Jesień na Marsie [Autumn on Mars] (Legnica: Centrum Sztuki—Teatr Dramatyczny, 1997)
Czas triumfu gołębi [Triumph of the Doves] (Wrocław: Pomona, 1999)
Hiperrealizm šwiętokrzyski [Hyperrealism of the Šwiętokrzyski Region] (Białystok: Kartki, 1999)
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This material is copyright © Krzysztof Jaworski and the translator/s and Jacket magazine 2006
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