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| Translation #4: Inverse by Boris Zakic |
When a new year comes, we greet it by looking back. Everyone
is posting their top picks for favorite books, best movies, and edgy music from
2013. Because everyone has different lists, these picks become the harsh
reminder that I missed out on so much in 2013! But, of course the more I look
back, the more I’ll miss out on what’s right in front of me. It’s time to look
on to 2014.
I subscribe to many literary review email updates, one of
which is Boston Review. Their new year header read “Poetry Matters: the 20 Top
Poems of 2013” which you can read here. Okay, so it’s not an entirely accurate headline because they
actually are posting the “most-read” poems on their website as opposed to
giving it a vote. But either way there are some gems in here.
Even I get caught up looking back. But I’ve decided to also
take these poems forward into 2014. I’m going to do what’s called an “inverse
translation” on ten of these poems. This is an English-to-English rendering, where I
write the opposite word, phrase, or sentiment of a poem to create something
entirely different. I’m not doing this because I think I can improve upon these
original poems. I do it to honor these poems. I rewrite poems because it means
I get to work intimately with the work, which helps me better understand the
authors’ intent, and also gives me the space to create something new. I invite
anyone who wants to join in the fun to inverse translate these original poems, mistranslate
my poems, or even pick your own top 5 and mistranslate those. I’d love to see how others interpret or purposely misinterpret them.
Check out the inverse translations of Boston Review’s Top 20
right here.
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