“I Decided on a Winner” by Tomaž Šalamun, translation from Slovene by Brian Henry | Blackbird v20n2

Slovene
back TOMAŽ ŠALAMUN
translation from Slovene by Brian Henry

I Decided on a Winner

Come on, come on, sweetheart,
you’re already an arsonist,

already a comma.
The emerald is an outfit,

it’s a feathery boy,
it’s a white ebb tide

without a mouth and face and
eyes. Gnocchi is in your

field. Just like
the semicolon. Just like

the colon
before the clause, the current

fashion with a bucket of water
in the soul.