If there is something to desire
My virtual friend and gifted photographer Marie Ancolie introduced me to charming world of Russian poet Vera Pavlova and suggested to share her work on Entropy…
If There is Something to Desire- is the first full collection of her poetry is published in English. The collection is translated by her husband Steven Seymour.
I broke your heart.
Now barefoot I tread
on shards.
Such is the elegant simplicity —A whole poem in ten words, vibrating with image and emotion— All her poems have same salty immediacy, as if spoken by a woman who feels that, as the title poem concludes, “If there was nothing to regret, / there was nothing to desire.”
Pavlova’s economy and directness make her delightfully accessible to us in all of the widely ranging topics she covers here: love, both sexual and the love that reaches beyond sex; motherhood; the memories of childhood that continue to feed us; our lives as passionate souls abroad in the world and the fullness of experience that entails.
Pavlova’s poems are highly disciplined miniatures, exhorting us without hesitation: “Enough painkilling, heal. / Enough cajoling, command.”
Why is the word yes so brief?
It should be
the longest,
the hardest,
so that you could not decide in an instant to say it,
so that upon reflection you could stop
in the middle of saying it.
It is a joy to discover a new poet—one who storms our hearts with pure talent and a seemingly effortless gift for shaping poems.
Explore her site here
on 27 Apr 2010 at 10:46 am 1.Marie said …
Thank you very much Ajay.
I liked immediately the style of Vera Pavlova.
And I bought a book published in French (which I received), and the new one in English (I did not receive it yet).
One poem is saying this.
La balance,
sur un des plateaux, la joie
sur l’autre, le chagrin.
Le chagrin est lourd,
voilà pourquoi
la joie est plus haute
I will not dare to translate it but I give you the subject
The balance
on one side, the joy
on the other, the affliction.
The affliction is heavy,
that’s why
the joy is so high
Thanks for sharing Vera Pavlova with us on Entropy/
on 27 Apr 2010 at 7:07 pm 2.Nimesh Dadia said …
Immensely beautiful.. her words have a lyrical melancholy and so her beautiful face.
on 09 Apr 2012 at 9:12 am 3.Sujit Patwardhan said …
She is beautiful and intelligent AND sensitive – an unbeatable combination. I love her sharp intelligence to directly focus on what she wants to say and her skill to say it in minimum number of words. She is a great find for me. Thanks Ajay.