Today’s Translation Tuesday is brought to you by MARGENTO, Asymptote Editor-at-Large for Romania and Moldova, and poet and translator Marius Surleac. As you immerse yourself in these lines, it is worth keeping in mind Florin’s unique profile and approach to creation as he combines poetry, mathematics, and Eastern Orthodox theology. There is a specific emphasis on mystical practice, particularly the kind that involves “iconic Hesychasm.” These excerpts from Florin Caragiu’s work, Mediterranean Suite, explore a sense of nostalgia, loss, and change.
Excerpts from Mediterranean Suite
It was only after long that we found the poet’s grave
In the graveyard by the sea. We barely made out
His name on the burial stone. We had passed
The spot several times
Without noticing it. Just as day after day people keep reaching
Your sight and you have no idea what they’re holding back.
Just as the blotchy calligraphic lettering
Overshadows a voice and its sharp beams
Coming out of a cloud of sea gulls, out of the lighted beacon
Piercing the sea’s costa and its coastal heart,
The wave amphitheater, and the city’s watery arteries.
Not far away, the frescoes catch in their fishing nets
The memory and the wind. Closely following behind us, the dolphins.