The Aztec: poem by Tomaž Šalamun, translated from the Slovenian

The Aztec is a poem by Tomaž Šalamun, printed in issue 21 of The Wolf. The page credits the English version to Joshua Beckman and the author, working from the Slovenian.

The poem is a single block of short statements and exclamations. Among the things it names are lilies, a boar, an otter, a kitten and a white otter, along with the sun, clouds and the sky above Komna, where the speaker skied. It speaks of birth as the collapsing of a bridge and of the speaker's sky, teeth and tongue as registered for death. A rabbit appears near the end, and the speaker refuses to console it.

Work

The Aztec

Author

Tomaž Šalamun

Poems in this selection

• The Aztec