Sofie Morin
translated by
Ray Liversidge
March Toad
Early in the year, the rain
drips contradiction onto the still-damp ground.
Nothing of it reaches the skin inside.
The meanings take us by the hand.
Breathe pleasure screams into the sunset like assurance.
Already we carry toads by night across the road.
The amphibian will kindle the imagination,
lets a desire shyly off the leash
where in the underbrush, it gurgles and becomes driftwood.
Out there rages a war that no one can stand.
Even in the burrow, distress feels itself edge-lonely.
We almost stop believing in coupling.
Where first blossom chalices appeal to satiety
they ask each other uninhibited after a damp day
After a reason or protection that would be good
Spawn strings meander between rough fingers.
Oblivious to transience, twigs bud rightwards
The spring spits everything alive back out.
…………………..
March Toad” was initially published as “Märzkröte” in: “Schwestern im Vers” by Dorina Marlen Heller & Sofie Morin (Austria, Vienna:
Edition Melos 2022)”. This translation by the Melbourne author Ray Liversidge was done within the UNSECO City of Literature
Project “Expedition Poetry,” which took place between Heidelberg (GER) & Melbourne (AUT) in 2022.
Sofie Morin (pseudonym), born in Vienna in 1972, studied at several faculties at the university, finally graduating in biology and philosophy. To expose herself to foreignness, she spent seven years in the French-speaking world until it was familiar enough. She loves playing around with different languages and perspectives. She has lived with her children for almost years in the hills near Heidelberg, where she works and writes. About 90 of her texts have been published in literary journals and anthologies. Recently, her 9th nomination earned her her first literary award (“Wort a Wort: Berührung “- word to word: touches). In 2022 her joint book of poetic dialogues with Dorina Marlen Heller has published: “Schwestern in Vers. Zwiesprachen Zwischen Morgen und Fraulein.” (sisters in verse – between morning and being a woman).
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