Marie Silkeberg, trans. Emma Warg

from Cape Point

You see the facade of a house distinctly drawn.
Down by the docks.
On the street you turn in to.
The light over the facade.
Like a flash.
A photography.
You start to walk across the street.
Towards the other sidewalk.
But you only get halfway there.
Two men come running. Shouting.
Quickly searching your body. Take the phone out of your back pocket.
Lifts the camera over your shoulder.

Drops the charger. Hesitates.
Runs away.
You pick it up.
See a man sit in a car.
You hit the cord hard against a streetlight.
Walk up the stairs.
Watch the sun over the Indian Ocean.
The construction site on the left hill.

An outermost point.
The big sounds from the harbor.
The cars.
If it is the ocean that is heard.
All night.
The scene in mind.

The speed.
The fear.
Every theft is a theft of love.
A beach.
The Indian Ocean.
The harbor towards Goa.
The struggle with the Arabs. Portuguese. Englishmen.
The name of Mandela.
The sixty-seven years he served his country.
If one could see one single white person
drive the carts in the parking lot.
Work.
The sound from the construction site.
Sirens.

You don’t like the heat. Not the light.
The haze over the ocean. The body. The vulnerable.
The refusal in it.
A cliff. The steep.

The brown people she says.
Take public transports.
You dodge when they pass she says and laughs.
The first day.
An outermost point.
Light falls over it.
The horn. The east side and the west.
You always panic he says.
No.
Not always.

Panicking you answer.
The fog is clearing over the ocean.

Big cargo ships. Tracks.
Rusty wagons.
The sun sets earlier.
It gets chilly fast.
A blue light from the ocean. A bay.
You hear the sounds of car doors slamming.
A dog bark.
My words are like fire.

Morning over the Indian Ocean.
Why me.
A wind is blowing. Hard.
Sugar something.
Dawn is coming.
You slept in his deep sleep.
High wind.

Some cargo ships move across the sea.
Why do you stress yourself.
The skin. The fragrance.
Afternoon. Already.
Sugar something.
Or after a long morning.
You took to the sofa.
Watched the dawn.
Made coffee. Gave him.
The ribs.
As if broken.
The fracture reopened.
How can you fuck all the time he says.
Gets up. Reaches for his clothes.
Grabs for your hip.

You fuck with my head.
They understand you better than me you say.
You make the call.
Whiteness is not a language.
You see a black man on a fires escape.
Domestic workers. Colored. No belonging.
Sugar something.
You know what I mean.
The sugar road. Not only the diamond.

Du ser en husfasad skarpt avtecknad.
Nära hamnen.
På gatan du svänger in på.
Ljuset över fasaden.
Som en blixt som tas.
Ett fotografi.
Du börjar gå över gatan.
Mot andra trottoaren.
Men hinner bara halvvägs.
De två männen kommer rusande. Skrikande.
Söker snabbt över din kropp. Tar telefonen ur
bakfickan.
Lyfter kameran över din axel.

Tappar laddaren. Hejdar sig.
Springer vidare.
Du tar upp den. 
Ser en man sitta i en bil.
Du slår med sladden mot en lyktstolpe.
Går uppför trappan.
Ser solen över Indiska oceanen.
Bygget på den vänstra kullen.

En yttersta udde.
De stora ljuden från hamnen.
Bilarna.
Om det är havet som hörs.
Hela natten.
Scenen i huvudet.

Hastigheten.
Skräcken.
Every theft is a theft of love.
En strand.
Indiska oceanen.
Hamnen mot Goa.
Kampen med araber. Portugiser. Engelsmän.
Mandelas namn.
De sextiosju åren han tjänade sitt land.
Om man kunde se en enda vit människa köra vagnarna på parkeringsplatsen.
Arbeta.
Ljudet från bygget.
Sirener.

Du tycker inte om hettan. Inte om ljuset.
Det disiga över havet. Kroppen. Den sårbara.
Vägran i den.
Ett stup. Det branta.

The brown people säger hon.
Åker public transports.
Man väjer när de kommer säger hon och skrattar.
Första dagen.
En yttersta udde.
Ljuset faller över den.
Hornet. Östra och västra sidan.
You always panick säger han.
No.
Not always.
Panicking svarar du.
Diset har lättat över havet.

Stora lastfartyg. En räls.
Rostiga godsvagnar.
Solen går ner tidigare.
Det blir fort svalt.
Ett blått ljus från havet. En bukt.
Du hör bildörrar slå igen. En hund skälla.
My words are like fire.

Morgon över Indiska oceanen.
Why me.
Det blåser. Mycket.
Sugar something.
Gryningen kommer.
Du sov i hans djupa sömn.
Det blåser hårt.

Några lastfartyg rör sig över havet.
Why do you stress yourself.
Huden. Doften.
Eftermiddag. Redan.
Sugar something.
Eller tiden efter en lång morgon.
Du la dig i soffan.
Såg på gryningen.
Kokade kaffe. Gav honom.
Revbenen.
Liksom brutna.
Skadan uppslagen.
How can you fuck all the time säger han.
Reser sig. Sträcker sig efter sina kläder.
Griper efter din höft.

You fuck with my head.
De förstår dig bättre än mig säger du.
Ring du.
Whiteness is not a language.
Du ser en svart man på en brandtrappa.
Domestic workers. Colored. Ingen hemhörighet.
Sugar something.
Du vet vad jag menar.
Sockrets väg. Inte bara diamanternas.


 
 

Marie Silkeberg (b. 1961) poet and translator, lives in Stockholm, Sweden. She has published eight books of poetry, most recently Atlantis (2017), and translated poets such as Claudia Rankine, Susan Howe, Rosmarie Waldrop, and Inger Christensen. Together with Ghayath Almadhoun, she has written the poetry collection Till Damaskus in 2014. Together with Almadhoun, she has made several poetry films: Destruction (2009), The City (2012), Your Memory is My Freedom (2012), The Celebration (2014), and Snow (2015), which have been screened in poetry film festivals around the world. In 2015 she was part of the International Writers Program in Iowa and 2017 at Vermont Studio Center. She is currently a HCA Guest Professor at the Department for Cultural Studies at The University of Southern Denmark.

Emma Warg (1967) has worked as a model in Paris and an actress in Los Angeles. She published her first book of poetry, nära darrar ingen hare, in 2014. She has translated poets such as Marie Silkeberg, Ann Jäderlund, and Forrest Gander.