Right Away
Translated by Emilie Moorhouse
For S.
All of this because I like to make love underwater
Smearing my hair with fog and bile
And let myself go in the depths of the couch
With a hunched stable boy
And a roaming finger
All this because you know I was once a thief
Translated from the French
Notes:
Read the French-language original, “Séance tenante.”
This poem is part of “When Can I See You Again: The Poetry of Joyce Mansour,” translated by Emilie Moorhouse. You can read the rest of the portfolio in the June 2023 issue. All the English translations of Joyce Mansour’s poems are from Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems, edited by Emilie Moorhouse and Garrett Caples. Translations copyright © 2023 by Emilie Moorhouse. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books. For more information, visit www.citylights.com.
Source:
Poetry
(June 2023)
