Swedish Poetry 1
From Vitsvit My family arrived here in a Marxist
tradition My family arriv e in a Marxist tradition Mther immediately filled the house with Christmas knick-knacks Weighed the pros and cons of the plastic Christmas tree as if it was her problem My mother immediately filled the house with Santa knick-knacks Weighed the pros and cons of the plastic Christmas tree as if the problem were hers During the day she distinguished between long and shor vo voels as if the sounds could would washoliv f il in her skin cash the olive oil r ame out o her mouth e oom her skin During the day she distinguished between long and short t wwels as if the sounds that came out off her mouth My mother let bleach run through her syntax n the other side of punctuation her language became whiter than a winter in Norrland My mother let bleach run through her syntax On the other side of punctuation her syllables became whiter than a winter in Norrland My mother built us a uture consisting off quantit o e In the suburban basement she lined up canned goods as if pr eparing or a war ar My mother built us a future c onsisting o quantityy f f lif In the suburban basement she lined up canned goods as if preparing f o lif e In the e enings she searched f for recipes and peeled pot tat as if it was her history inscribed inscribed in the Janssonin the Jansson’s temptation c casseration asserole ole To think that I sucked at those breasts To think that she put her barbarism in my mouth To think that I sucked at those breasts To think that she put her barbarism in my mouth Athena Farrokhzad, from Vitsvit (White Blight), 2013 Translated by Jennifer Hayashida In the evvenings she searched or recipes and peeled po oesat oes As if were her hist 61 SWEDISH POETRY