***

Green sounds echo

like a stream of blood

they flow

touch and vibrate

they’re sensed by lovers

the spell of the green melody

stirs in their hearts

a flood of sounds

fills the grasses the trees

press your palm against the tree bark

leaves burst out along its branches

and you descend into “the Nectar bar” [1]

two meters beneath the cobblestones

amid the roots

and blue cascading water

to Italian songs

and emeralds frozen over

Notes

[1] Nektar (Nectar) was the name of a bar frequented by members of L′viv’s bohemian, artistic circles in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

Translated by Mark Andryczyk with Yaryna Yakubyak