Phosphorus

Translated by Mark Tardi
you’re in the terrarium
a black box thing

in itself an alluvium
enriched feedstock

breath smoother than phosphate
ammoniac sinter

the synthetic maniac given
under the tongue for thought

life glued into someone’s
dream edible clean

reroute the reverie
make dirty ore alloy

read the body close to you
pulsar errarium

a plural thing in itself
unsovereign
Translated from the Polish

Notes:

Read the Polish-language original, “Fosfor,” and the translator’s note by Mark Tardi.

Source: Poetry (April 2024)
More Poems by Kacper Bartczak