Liliana Ursu

We had the privilege of hearing Romanian poet Liliana Ursu and her translator Sean Cotter read this evening from their new book Lightwall, published by Zephyr Press. It was a wonderful reading and I recommend checking out the collection, as well as hearing them read if you get the opportunity. Liliana and Sean have several readings scheduled in the next week, including at the Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington on April 1st at 4 pm, and next Tuesday evening, April 7th, in Plano, Texas at Legacy Books.

Three poems by Liliana Ursu, translated by Mihaela Moscaliuc and Michael Waters, will appear in Absinthe 11. Enjoy a preview below:

Poem Written on a Rainy Day about Garden Shears

On the table white as the sea wall
In de Chirico’s painting
The poetry notebook and “Homilies on Repentance”
By St. John of the Cross.
Next to them the garden shears
With arms yellowish
Like two candles,
The steel coil
Unquestionable.

And last, the shears’ blades
That trim all illusions,
All sins.
All the way to the bluish skin
Caressed only by angels.

Translated from Romanian by Mihaela Moscaliuc and Michael Waters