Translated from Lithuanian by the author and Ada Valaitis
Hurry up, my women, here–a room, here–chalk,
here–the smell of pine branches. Gather all of you–lame, toothless,
mindless, one-legged and blind, aborted and those
who scrubbed their histories, all who cried
about the Christmas wafer chewed up by the bunny, all who rocked their
children–lullaby lullaby lullaby–all
who left everything, who were left, medeas gorgons heras hetaerae
all of the station waitresses, vendors of holes for just twenty sous
all illiterate landless, tapping fingers on man’s fly–
come all, because it’s almost three o’clock, and the rooster hasn’t crowed,
He shuffles. He waddles. And I can’t see through my
fallen eyelids, women, grab some chalk,
it’s time to whitewash this story with vellum, draw a circle three times, it’s time
throw the gauntlet, cast spells,–and she’s free, and she’s free, and she’s free.
Baubas
Greičiau, mano moterys, va – kambarys, va – kreida,
va – eglišakių kvapas. Rinkitės visos – raišos, bedantės,
begalvės, vienakojės ir aklos, abortuotos ir tos,
kurios grandė savo istorijas, visos, verkusios
dėl kiškio apgraužtos plotkelės, visos, supusios savo
vaikus – leliumai tuk tadam leliumai tuk tadam – visos
viską palikusios, paliktos, medėjos gorgonės heros heteros,
visos stočių padavėjos, pardavėjos skylių tik už dvidešimt sū,
visos beraštės bežemės, grojusios pirštais ant vyro antuko –
visos ateikit, nes artėja trečia, o gaidys dar negieda,
Jis šlepsi. Jis atšleivoja. O aš negaliu pažiūrėt po
užkritusiais vokais, moterys, griebkit kreidą,
jau laikas išbalinti kalkėm istoriją šitą, brėžkit ratą triskart, jau laikas
mest pirštinę, burtus kalbėt – ir laisva, ir laisva, ir laisva.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 28, Issue 2.
Lina Buividavičiūtė is a poet, lecturer, literary critic, and culture journalist. Lina was born in Kaunas in 1986. In 2010, she graduated from Vilnius University with a Bachelor’s degree in philology and in 2012 with a Master’s degree in Lithuanian literature. She is an author of three poetry books in Lithuanian language. The first book, Helsinkio sindromas (“Helsinki syndrome”), was published in 2017 and attracted the attention of critics and readers. The second poetry book, Tamsieji amžiai (“Dark ages”), published in 2021, was shortlisted among the Top 12 Most Creative Books of the Year and included in the Book of the Year list. The book “Dark ages” was translated and published in Spain by La Tortuga Búlgara in 2025.
Ada Valaitis holds a Master’s degree in Literature from George Mason University. In 2007, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Lithuania to continue her work studying and translating Lithuanian literature. Ada’s translations of Lithuanian literature have appeared in numerous collections and journals.
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