Alpinist! Are We on Chairs? Do We have Stinging Knees?, and: Diaghilev

162 ALPINIST! ARE WE ON CHAIRS? DO WE HAVE STINGING KNEES? Translated from the Slovenian by Michael Thomas Taren and the author When our concert was at the peak, I collapsed in the pool. Nude and naked and white and awesome. I was strangling my friend. He was nude and naked and white and awesome. We were both Swedes from Hvar. Kids put their hands in the air. I wanted a red breezer. My buddy wanted a red breezer too. The vocalist had a cat mask on his head. My bone had been healing. The third one collapsed in the pool. Without a friend. He had smooth skin. Firs seemed black because light came from behind. All three of us were smooth and sweet. TOMAŽ ŠALAMUN 163 DIAGHILEV Translated from the Slovenian by Michael Thomas Taren and the author God’s grease lies in a silent coffer. This time he’s shaped as a whining mare. Schluss! Sometimes she’s open, sometimes she’s shut. She’s yellow and she smears. Once a coffer, once a grease. Once in a pepita dress, irrevocably. New waters flow in. Then, how we can call the skeins of old water? Cultures do not cross. Each one has its own hook to button the cloak. Bulbs, tiaras hiss and if I wanted to cross the canal, I shoed it. I stuck myself with posters and rode away. TOMAŽ ŠALAMUN ...