Also available in: Macedonian
I Seek My Voice
I seek my voice in the wild silence of the sea—
the sea turns to stone.
I seek it in the autumn’s yellow desert—
the desert turns green.
My hands are not my hands
(my hands are fingers of moonlight).
My eyes are not my eyes
(my eyes are eyes for distance).
My word is the hard jawbone of time,
with teeth of seed that sprout in the fields.
Aco Šopov, The Long Coming of the Fire, Deep Vellum, 2023.
Translated from the Macedonian by Christina E. Kramer and Rawley Grau.