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About Blue: Velestovo & This Summer

About Blue: Velestovo

 

1

 

…when I say the name: Velestovo,

I think of deep blue.

Of blue stretching from sky to sky.

Of the matte sun in luminous pools.

I think of the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee,

the smell of fresh-baked bread,

the gentle herd driven to the sound of bells…

I think of the chill of an August night,

the chill of the poetry of Cyril and Methodius,

the chill of love…

 

When I think of deep blue,

I say the name: Velestovo.

 

 

2

 

…when I say the name: Velestovo,

I think of deep blue.

And of the people without whom

my life would be diminished.

Your tenderness, Velestovo,

the scent of the lake’s spirit,

the living water,

all rise up to my heart in blue.

In blue I find harbor,

and berth, dock,

and haven.

Your goodness, o blue!

 

When I think of deep blue,

I say the name: Velestovo.

 

 

 

This Summer

 

This summer

every swallow of tea

tastes of mystery.

 

The rustle of time,

the flicker of a lighter

in dark of night…

 

 


ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

is a poet, film-maker, and artist. She is the author of three books of poetry in Russian: Red Noise (2012), White (2006), Venetian (2005), and three bilingual books (in Russian and Polish, Russian and Italian, and Russian and French). She has twice won the International Festival of Verse Libre (Russia), as well as the Nosside Prize (Italy). In 2014 she received the Catherine the Great medal for achievement in contemporary Russian literature (St. Petersburg Union of Activists of the Avant-Garde).

Katherine E. Young is the author of the poetry collections Woman Drinking Absinthe and Day of the Border Guards and the editor of Written in Arlington. She is the translator of Look at Him by Anna Starobinets and Farewell, Aylis by Akram Aylisli. Young’s translations of contemporary Russophone poetry have won international awards; she was also named a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts translation fellow (US). From 2016-2018, she served as the inaugural poet laureate for Arlington, Virginia, US. https://katherine-young-poet.com/

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