Two Poems from Scrum

By Veronica Stefanet, Translated from Romanian by Monica Cure

bird

you grab the end of your girlfriend’s scarf and quickly sniff it 
when she’s not at the table
I pick off the strands of hair caught on her coat when we go out 

the air vibrates when it’s just the two of us
not even the dâmbovița is too far away if you’re a bird you say

if you’re a bird
even 10 cm between hands isn’t too far 

so as not to make others uncomfortable
I tie a rope around my little wings

chișinău–cruglic 

the last trip on the cruglic route
standing on one leg, the smells when it’s +40°C, elbows in ribs 
the bags and twisted limbs of travelers
squeeze in, they’re our folks, from the village, we can’t leave them behind 

I ended up on the driver’s shoulder
with my flowery dress and all, my bracelets, earrings, the braids
        in my hair
as colorful and pathetic as a parrot
caught by a few pairs of tanned hands 

I dug my little claws into the captain’s shoulder 
I closed my eyes
to forget that I can’t stand being touched by strangers 

I’m on a ship and the wind glides through my feathers 
the driver lets a few more board
and no one protests
I don’t chirp up either 
‘cause they’re their folks, from the village, we can’t leave them behind


About the author and translator:

Veronica Stefanet (b. 1985) is a Romanian language poet from the Republic of Moldova. Her poetry debut, Ashes, won the Max Blecher Publishing House First Book Contest in 2019. She has also co-translated an anthology of contemporary Russian-language poets into Romanian entitled All That the Eye Can See (Paralela 45 Press, 2019). She has read her poetry at several international poetry festivals and currently resides in Chisinau.

Monica Cure is a Romanian-American poet, translator, and dialogue specialist. She has twice been awarded a Fulbright grant. Her translation of Moldovan-born Romanian writer Liliana Corobca’s novel The Censor’s Notebook is forthcoming in 2022 with Seven Stories Press, and her poetry translations have appeared in Plume, Asymptote, and Modern Poetry in Translation. Her own poems have appeared in Plume, Rust + Moth, Little Stone Journal, and elsewhere. She is currently based in Bucharest.