Nina Cassian

INTERSECŢII. Înainte de sărbătorile de iarnă - OBSERVATOR CULTURAL Autor Michael FINKENTHAL Nr. 556-557, 23 decembrie 2010 Sînt în Haifa şi profit de ocazie pentru a da o fugă pînă la Ein Hod, satul pictorilor întemeiat după 1948 de Marcel Iancu, pentru a

And if the flesh is discontent(in fact, crushed, torn to pieces) – the Spirit laststhe green alcoholof the fruit I used to be…Read my bookand get intoxicatedwith the fragrance of my flesh. by Nina Cassian (b. 1924)

1. The Mirror of the SelfThere are people, quite a few, and not particularly the happy ones, who are themselves their main concern. They pay a great deal of attention to all the signals their body sends. For them, the physical well-being is a goal in itself, which should

Screams I'd have given, ecstaticif I had looked with you, through you,these tattered waters, these stone chimeras;my childhood would've spurted through my skinlike scarlet fever,my thighs would've been stained with bloodas on the wedding night.  Screams I'd

An early bricklayer climbs Up the scaffold growing high,Oana watched him many timesWorking hard, close to the sky. When the wintry chill was sore,T'was a heavy coat he wore. Today his strong arms are bare,Sleeves rolled up in the spring air. And towards the joy-filled

The First of May,The First of May,The whole town's marching on this day –Little red flags everywhereWaving brightly through the air. Girls and boys,In convoys,Through the streets sing of their joys. Wheat field, wheat field, within hours,You are going to unfoldThrough

A sad, broke kangaroo suddenly sprangInto the path of an orangutang. The latter said: Your pocket is the best. What about you? That's quite a hairy vest. They struck a deal 'neath the ylang-ylangAnd launched the model kangorangutang.  from Holiday Games, Cartea

You leave a four-pawed trail,Your fur is white as snow,Guess you don't have a tail – Bears don't, far as I know. For bears at the North Pole Sport is a common goal,While South-Pole bears appearQuite unprepared to hear. You are my only bear,Complete with monogram,

Where do I come from? I come from my childhood. I come from my childhood as from a country. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Is fascination with childhood a convention? No, inasmuch as, for most of us, childhood was filled with wonderful things and games, fairy tales and ingenuity,