Carrie Etter
Beyond the Sea by Elsa Cross (trans. Anamaría Crowe Serrano, Shearsman, 2016), first selection
I've been enjoying Elsa Cross's work for some years now, thanks to Anamaría Crowe Serrano and Shearsman Books. Here are some favourite passages from this collection:
Like a crab the heat draws its pincers closer.
*
The east wind is heard,
the metal of goat bells,
cicadas:
the incipient polyphony of summer.
from 'Stones'
Movement--
the last vowel
reverberates in the ear.
*
Ah! Metaphors,
those liars.
*
The afternoon is getting drunk
on its endless greenery,
setting its oxygens alight
at summer's end.
*
In enclosed courtyards
the light seems to rise from a hidden well;
desires gleam--
such is the accumulated transparency.
*
The chunks of bread
an old man throws at the water
disappear inside fishes' mouths--
leaving circles that still sparkle
in the evening light.
Then he throws out bait.
The castle,
golden in colour,
becomes a melancholy stain.
*
The sun is going down.
The bay fills with feline trembling.
*
Unintelligible echoes
and in their hollows
the surf of your name.
from 'Waves'
You can purchase Beyond the Sea directly from the publisher here.
#AnamaríaCroweSerrano #ElsaCross #ShearsmanBooks #BeyondtheSea