Speaking In Tongues
Scribbling In Voices
LABBOUR HO
(Sergey Popovich, Igor Granovsky, Konstantin Dovzhenko)
FELDWEBEL'S ROMANCE
Translated by Max Nemtsov
© 1988
MIGRATION
FELDWEBEL'S ROMANCE
FOREST
SOLID OIL
ANTS
SONG OF CHANGES
HUNTER
BIRTHDAY
IDIOT
MOSCOW
DOORS
MIGRATION
i don't believe myself when i
stream my dreams into your mind
my world is pocketlike and free
give me the wings
FELDWEBEL'S ROMANCE
i wear my nose like medal
my face is like my dress coat
my eyes are like my polished badges
ears are aiguillettes
FOREST
there are blue rats on a rooftop
dances with tails far ahead
my trunks reach higher and higher
roof soaring over the head
SOLID OIL
solid oil solid oil solid oil solid oil
solid oil solid oil solid oil solid oil
hands are covered with it
legs are covered with it
mouth is covered with it
rouble is squeezed in the fist
solid oil solid oil solid oil solid oil
solid oil solid oil solid oil solid oil
hands are covered with it
and legs are covered with it as well
and mouth is covered with it
and rouble is covered with it
ANTS
sky is hanging down from the wires
spring in the beak of a hungry crow
pronouncing croak
trouser pockets are full of meaning
there are three ants gnawing the glass
producing ho
lunatic eyes rolled under the table
dry-cleaning code squeezing my hand
just you touch
kitty is thoughtfully touching syringe
radio mushroom in frame of tiles
informing chirp
SONG OF CHANGES
your books
these are records
my records
these are books
your tokens
this is money
my money
these are tokens
your trousers
these are pockets
my tunnels
pockets of trousers
your conviction
this is the doubt
my inducement
all is well
my books
these are records
your records
these are books
my tokens
this is money
your money
these are tokens
my trousers
these are pockets
your tunnels
pockets of trousers
my conviction
this is the doubt
your inducement
all is well
HUNTER
to knead the rows on the starchy jelly
of the marasmic buildings and constructions
and blow the harmonies of tonal levels
from two square meters that surround me
and bang the head against the walls
extending skies that cut so very low
and open heavy kingston valves
saluting at your turnpike at the same time
fields of droppings all across the country
ornaments of doomed erected buildings
i spill over just like heavy air
of front doors that squint into the night
i leave the same inscription on the walls
reception time is over come tomorrow
wild laughter in the night broadcasting prophesies
it means i was not dead the day before
BIRTHDAY
toilet pans start gurgling after dark
quiet evening melting into teapot
night intruding home like double bed
i'm not cold not hot not sad i'm not
i'm sensation-hungry and my head
is so thirsty glazed with stewed fruit
and my hand is clawing the wall paper
'cause today's the day i've got my birthday
just peer closer into my tattoo
saturday and monday like blue scrawlings
summer slowly dripping from my ears
i'm alone i'm looking for a job
IDIOT
teeth are moaning as they puncture that dark purple tongue
head is like a kite-balloon
and the rest downward
whatcha doin in the toilet
cause you have got me
idiot
schizophrenic
bank of sperm of this adventurer
ballistic forecast
draw my thin extended nose
on the sick-leave card
whatcha doin in the drugstore
cause you have got me
idiot
schizophrenic
despite universal toad
i shall live my forty years
eye-balls liquid spread about
hit by ceiling far above
what have you done on the balcony
you had got me
idiot
schizophrenic
MOSCOW
early mornings on white stones
of it
i come there rumbling with my
facets
stumbling over that one red
stone
can't find other place and lie
down under tram
UNIVERSAL TOAD
the holy ones on the holidays
lead the old hags across the
avenues
intravenous telepathy
removes intra-eyes apathy
UNIVERSAL TOAD
DOORS
to knead the rows on the starchy jelly
of the marasmic buildings and constructions
and blow the harmonies of tonal levels
from two square meters that surround me
and bang the head against the walls
extending skies that cut so very low
and open heavy kingston valves
saluting at your turnpike at the same time
fields of droppings all across the country
ornaments of doomed erected buildings
i spill over just like heavy air
of front doors that squint into the night
all along the kitchen sounds and buckets
like quicksilver mass excluding cravings
varnish definition concentrating
it means i haven't kicked that bucket yet
wet expiration by belligerent libido
my smile has raised aggressively its crutch
but it falls down stumbling by the entrance
to the museum of real-life figurines
look -- he took up the air-field once again and
lets down the penis from under the wings
i'm camouflaging fields of strawberries
to look like specially grasped reflex