A Mistranslation of Justin, Etc.'s "translating, translating..."

mistranslating “translating translating Joseph Burgess’ John Clare” by Justin, Etc.

by Susan Calvillo

a deflated life vest can make the difference

hanging over a headboard        it’s a conversation

starter              after she breaks her pinky in bed

            the crow’s nest is there to save you

for last when sinking

that is…unless             you’re just another grumpy sea monster

not in the mood

for overcast waters as you sleep on your bed of tube worms

                        preying on their hydrothermal vents

                        you were half-merman, I thought

I can’t believe

I can’t believe you’re shaved for this

I’m sorry I got lipstick on your coffee cup                 she said

            I’m sorry                     you said

for bringing my wife along again

the Flying Duchess

may be a Fata Morgana

unlikely, she told you

                        not before sunrise

one morning                in the salt mist

you should like to make a mirage of her

the sound of sails heaving

            the ebb of lips and ships

so that her head may be

always above water

then her broken pinky

might not

            interrupt the groping sea

"Thank You For Failing!" Exhibition at the Asian Resource Center, Oakland, CA

The process of art-making can often be fraught with mishaps, miscues, and mistakes—not all of which end well. We label the outcomes of these ill-fated endeavors "failures," with the awareness that these bumps in the road are an integral part of the creative process. This exhibition is an homage to artists who aren’t afraid to take risks and display them publicly.

Location: Asian Resource Center Gallery
                 310 8th St, Oakland, CA
Exhibition Dates: March 17—May 9
Artists Reception: May 8

Four poems from my Dual Duel collection will be displayed at the exhibition among other epic artistic failures, both big and small. Please feel welcome to drop by and check it out!

The Inverse Translation Project: top picks for 2013

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.

in its plum age

here's a poem for this warm foggy day:

in its plum age

let the bamboo

adore a door

oh, to live in delay

of decomposition

let it, at most

come to fear

the compress

of brother branches

as other stalks

pass on, eat aerie

also dawdle, lei tepee

as the lizard’s

tail withers

away with the sawdust

*

let the dust delay

a stalk is a door

is the door a liar

let it bamboozle

the atmosphere

the compass saw a way

despite what we are

so, so of blood

come, press plumage

into a composition

a tale retold

branches, lives on

in the withered

the other, its after

I dedicate this poem to all the writers wading through guidelines, editors' expectations, and rejection letters this hopeful summer.

Submission Guidelines

September theme: On The Couch

            for a proposal to send to potential publishers

We accept anything: poetry, napkin doodles, instructions for assembling killer robots, a photograph of the poem you wrote with a sharpie marker on top of graffiti sprayed on a ripped up advertisement, poems which are heartfelt, but not sappy, work that goes beyond celebration and observation to suggest new ways to think and write about birds, work that makes us look at ourselves in a new way & work that challenges (or, you know, confirms in some subversive way) the stereotypes that paint our generation as lazy or stupid or narcissistic or victims of the times.

We will never accept “cookie cutter” writers (you know who you are).

Helpful hints from the poetry editor:

Be image oriented (show don't tell).
Don’t have heavy end-stop rhymes.
Have a clever use of language (i.e. slant & internal rhymes, alliteration & assonance).

The weirder the better.

Things that are funny make us laugh.

We're looking for dramatic monologues, or characters talking to God.

No fan fiction, no erotica, no work that is cliché or unoriginal

Submissions containing sex, violence, or profanity simply for the sake of “shock value”, will surely be rejected

Feel free to send submissions, but you will likely not receive a response until (gulp)… December? Send up to 3 poems at a time. Submitting more than 8 tends to conceal the merits of individual poems. No epics, PLEASE!!

1^st prize: $100 & an Osprey backpack, 2^nd prize: gift certificate for a pair of La Sportiva Mountain running shoes. All prizewinners will receive a prize certificate suitable for framing.

Include a cover letter with brief bio & statement describing your connection to Nebraska.  Bios should be professionally written, not comical or irreverent.

Only Southern poets (born, living, spent time in prison, or otherwise dallied somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon) will be considered or the material needs to be plainly set in or derived from the South.

If your poem has non-standard grammar/styling, please note it in your cover letter so that it doesn’t affect our decision. Line length may be edited to fit chapbook publication format, 3-line haiku need not to conform to strict syllable count. The poet should also know, fairly clearly, what is or is not good work and send only that.

We reserve the right to print or not print any & all submissions.

You will probably not get paid, except in our eternal gratitude.

To submit now click here.

Excerpt Art with Frankenthaler, the iPhone, Mondrian, and O'Keeffe

Here's some more artwork that I admire paired with Excerpts From My Grocery List. This one's "Madame Butterfly" by Helen Frankenthaler.

Apple iPhone paired with an Excerpt From My Grocery List.

Piet Mondrian's "Composition with Blue, Black, Yellow and Red" paired with an Excerpt From My Grocery List.

Georgia O'Keeffe's "Canna Red and Orange" paired with an Excerpt From My Grocery List.

Excerpt Art - Warhol, McGraw, Little, Marin

Andy Warhol's 100 Cans; An Excerpt from My Grocery List

DeLoss McGraw, Mother and Child 'Bleak and Lonely Heights' in August Moving Sunlight; Excerpts

James Little, Sneak-Attack; An Excerpt from My Grocery List

John Marin, Sun Spots; An Excerpt from My Grocery List

Last year McGraw-Hill had layoffs and was going to fill a dumpster with beautiful paper, artwork, files, and office supplies. I snatched them up and am now re-purposing excerpts of artwork and collaging them together with excerpts from my poetry.