IVAN HERCEG (1970), poet, prose writer, and editor, was born in Krapina, Croatia. He holds a BA in Croatian Language and Literature and South-Slavic Philology from the University of Zagreb. He is the editor-in-chief of the Zagreb-based journal Poezija, the editor-in-chief of Poezija Editions, and the organiser of the SUR (Stih u regiji / Poetry in the Region) Poetry Festival. He is the author of six books of poetry: Our Other Names (Zagreb, 1994); Night on Asphalt (Karlovac, 1996); Photographs of Earthly Sighs (Zagreb, 1997); Angels in Mourning (Zagreb, 2004); Irregularities (Zagreb, 2007); and When Will Babylon Arrive (Zagreb, 2013). He received several awards for his poetic work, most notably the Goran Prize for young poets, the Zdravko Pucak Prize, and the Rikard Jorgovanić Award. He also published Naked (Zagreb, 2011), a collection of short stories. His poetry has been widely anthologised and translated into a dozen languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Chinese. His selected poems, Koliko Naju Bo Ostalo, were published in Slovenian by Hiša Poezije (Ljubljana, 2009); Warsaw, Warsaw in Polish by Wydawnictwo Miedzymorze (Gdansk, 2014); Nepravilnosti in Bulgarian by DA Publishing House (Sofia, 2014); Noćni ljudi in Macedonian by PNV Publishing (Skopje, 2021); Dvostruki život in Albanian by Asfodela (Pristina, 2023); Duhovi iz zlatne omče 1994 – 2024 in Croatian by Mala zvona (Zagreb, 2024). He participated in many international poetry festivals, including Poetry International (Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2009); Beijing Poetry Festival (Beijing, China, 2011); Chapbook Festival (New York, USA, 2012); Voix Vives de Mediterranee en Mediterranee (Sete, France, 2014), International Festival of Arts Trans/Missions – Three Seas (Rzeszow, Poland, 2022), International Poetry Festival “Struga Poetry Evenings” (Struga, Republic of North Macedonia, 2023), Velestovo Poetry Night (Velestovo, Ohrid, Republic of North Macedonia, 2024), Pordenonelegge (Pordenone, Italy, 2024). He is a member of the Croatian Writers Society and Croatian P.E.N. Centre. Ivan Herceg lives in Zagreb and works as an editor for the Croatian daily Jutarnji List.
ЗАБРАВЕНИ
Всеки против себе си. Забравени забравяме.
Халюцинираме. Езикът е щастливо погребан.
Слой по слой. В метафората. В нищото.
Потопът е в разгара си. И чака Бога. Да забрави.
Зазидан в топлата утайка на тебемене.
От нищо не се боим. Свободата е неудобно нищо.
Разкриваме спомените си, ала не помним.
Лека-полека се превръщаме в забранено стихотворение,
космическо лепило и десето измерение.
А ти би искала само да бъдеш забравена.
Забравени забравяме.
FORGOTTEN
Each one against himself. Forgotten we are forgetting.
Hallucinating. The language is happily buried.
Layer by layer. Into a metaphor. Into nothing.
The flood is at its peak. Awaiting on God. To forget.
Built into a warm sediment of You-Me.
We are afraid of nothing. Freedom is a pleasant nothing.
We discover each other’s memories, but we don’t remember anything.
Slowly, slowly we become a forbidden song,
a cosmic glue and the tenth dimension.
And you just want to be forgotten.
Forgotten, we are forgetting.
ZABORAVLJENI
Svatko protiv sebe. Zaboravljeni zaboravljamo.
Haluciniramo. Jezik je sretno zakopan.
Sloj po sloj. U metaforu. U ništa.
Potop je na vrhuncu. I čeka Boga. Da zaboravi.
Uzidan u topli sediment tebemene.
Ničega se ne bojimo. Sloboda je neugodno ništa.
Otkrivamo si sjećanja, ali se ne sjećamo.
Polako, polako postajemo zabranjena pjesma,
kozmičko ljepilo i deseta dimenzija.
A ti bi samo htjela biti zaboravljena.
Zaboravljeni zaboravljamo.
КАК ИЗЧЕЗВА СНЕГЪТ
Снегът е постоянна, вездесъща пръст. Във всяка снежинка е нейната прашинка от земята. Снегът е бяла салфетка под брадичката на непознато дете. Снегът ще бъде бялото копче на моя черен погребален костюм. И ледът в теб. Снегът пада само на земята. Затова когато се стрие с ръка, пръстта става бяла, нереална. Така изчезва снегът.
И пръстта с нас в себе си.
HOW SNOW DISAPPEARS
Snow is a constant, ever-present earth. Its crumbles and clumps
are in every flake. Snow is a white napkin under an unknown child’s chin.
Snow will be white buttons on my black posthumous suit. As well as the ice in you. Snow falls only on the ground. Hence, the earth, when one crumbles it
in his hands, turns white, surreal. That’s how snow disappears.
As well as the earth with us in its womb.
KAKO NESTAJE SNIJEG
Snijeg je stalna, sveprisutna zemlja. U svakoj su pahulji njene mrvice, grudice. Snijeg je bijela salveta pod podbratkom nepoznatog djeteta. Snijeg će biti bijela dugmad na mom crnom posmrtnom odijelu. I led u tebi. Snijeg pada samo na zemlju. Zato zemlja, kad se razmrvi rukama, postaje bijela, nestvarna. Tako snijeg nestaje.
I zemlja s nama u sebi.
ЖИВОТ ОТ НУЛАТА
Как да гледаш автопортрета си,
да приемеш друга форма,
нов формат, живот от нулата?
Ако почувстваш страх,
пази го за напролет,
за раждането в нереалното,
в началото, в провала.
Ти имаш стъклени ръце
и се боя да ги погледна,
понеже нямат кръв.
Обичаме се и се питаме защо.
Миналото е любов,
облепена здраво с тиксо,
мирът ни е нечистотия,
чистилище, а ние – антихора.
LIFE DEGREE ZERO
How to look at the self-portrait,
how to reshape and reformat oneself,
how to live a Life Degree Zero?
If you feel fear, save it for the springtime,
for birthing into surreal,
into beginning, into defeat.
Your hands are made of glass
and I’m scared to look at them
because they are bloodless.
We love each other wondering why.
Past is love
wrapped tightly with adhesive tape,
our peace is filth,
a clearing where we stand inhuman.
NULTI ŽIVOT
Kako gledati autoportret,
izvrnuti se u drugu formu,
format, nulti život?
Ako osjetiš strah,
čuvaj ga za proljeće,
za rođenje u nestvarno,
u početak, poraz.
Ti imaš staklene ruke
i bojim se gledati u njih
jer nemaju krvi.
Volimo se i pitamo zašto.
Prošlost je ljubav
čvrsto oblijepljena selotejpom,
a naš mir nečistoća,
čistina na kojoj smo neljudi.
