Egoism as Much as
Literature
or
Why I'm an Anti-
Disciple
Literature
or
Why I'm an Anti-
Disciple
At the skirt of the mountain frightened by its very height
keeping watch against hypocrisy on account of its awful memories
(I should have followed them as almost all travelers follow
the blazes on tree trunks the cheers of those who can be comforted
by the truism that they were earlier to rise that they grew older
looking down from high above on the world inventing its own perfection
as on some tourist attraction from a century before
a brilliant sort of helplessness
friends holding stones small animals and insects
sparkling with iridescent hues instead of their dying mother’s hand
filled with sympathy for any ragtag troop
of mediocre soldiers too ready to shoulder their knapsacks
rather than for those who sign letters of protest
confronted by conflicts between nations sexes races religions)
I said to it that in the meantime
magnetic maps escalators laser compasses cable cars have appeared for all of us . . .
maglev trains helicopters safety gear
oh so many methods to pick from in full awareness
to avoid losing ourselves between sunset and sunrise
I didn’t even tell it that it wasn’t the only mountain
God left on the face of the earth
I was fond of it I defended it as a landmark
an heroic legend in the mother tongue
you haven’t the slightest idea I can collapse to nothing it answered me
I’ll do it while you suppose you’re keeping watch over me
you need a bitter lesson one I and only I can give you
you’re going to find it awfully hard without me
[Poem was translated by Liana Vrajitoru (Andreasen) and Adam J. Sorkin]
Elena Ştefoi is the author of six books of poetry, most recently The Starting Line (1996). Other titles include Daily Rehearsal (1986), Sketches and Stories (1989), and A Few Details (1990). Her work has been honored by the Romanian Writers' Union, and she was one of the four Romanian poets who appeared in Michael March's groundbreaking 1990 Penguin Anthology, Child of Europe. Stefoi has been an editor of the important political-cultural journal Dilema and a correspondent for Radio France (with daily reports from Bucharest) and the French-language L'Invitation in Bucharest. Since the start of 2006 she has served as Romania's Ambassador to Canada.
