from ‘Mellem Stationerne’
By C. Y. Frostholm
Translated from the Danish by Karen Havelin
*
Crouched in the darkness
with the receiver against my face
at the furthest end of the house
I tried for a moment
on my life to hide
how my words were a
matter of life and death.
My voice revealed me.
Thus I was born
with my love bared
like a sex under the blade
(there is no Mouth of Truth)
and stood to go join the adults.
*
If you left me
it would be for
the smallest thing
a frown
and that’s what I’m afraid of.
Not what’s unforgivable
accumulated
through the years
but light as a snowflake
from a clear blue sky
car keys in hand.
from Mellem Stationerne
C. Y. Frostholm
*
Krøbet sammen i mørket
med telefonrøret mod ansigtet
allerbagest i huset
prøvede jeg et øjeblik
for alt i verden at dølge
at mine ord var et
spørgsmål om liv og død.
Jeg blev avsløret af stemmen.
Sådan blev jeg født
med kærligheden blotlagt
som et køn under kniven
(der findes ingen Sandhedens Mund)
og stod op og gik ind til de voksne.
*
Hvis du gik fra mig
ville det være for
den mindste ting
et rynket øjenbryn
og det er det jeg frygter.
Ikke det gennem årene
opsparede utilgivelige
men fnuglet
fra en klar blå himmel
bilnøglerne i hånden.
Translator
Karen Havelin is a writer and translator from Bergen, Norway. She has an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University and has published fiction, translations, poetry, and nonfiction in various publications in English and Norwegian. Her debut novel “Please Read This Leaflet Carefully” is forthcoming from Dottir Press, Dead Ink Books, and Cappelen Damm spring 2019.
Author
C. Y. Frostholm is a Danish writer, translator, and visual artist based in Copenhagen. He has been publishing poetry and prose since 1985. His most recent books are “Træmuseet” and “Det værste der kunne ske.” His travelogue from 2013 “Paris en brugsanvisning” was nominated for two Danish literary awards. Selections of Frostholm’s poetry in Karen Havelin’s English translation have previously been published in M-Dash and the Nashville Review.