Authority, and: We Have Grown

Abstract

Authority, and: We Have Grown Shira Stav (bio) Translated by Daniel Ginsburg (bio) and Rutie Eckdish Authority Sometimes I struggle to get in first gearwhen the traffic light changes to greenlike when my period was delayed‘til the end of ninth grade(and who knows maybe it will save me from cancer).Meanwhile, the sky-high blast of hornsrivulets of sweat pool in foldsand I sniff the scent of defeatheat steams the sun shielda herd of giraffes tramples on the street,raising dust clouds, creating tumultas I scream motherfuckerI recall how I wailed when I was frightenedbehind closed doors of the toiletI swear to God I thought it would never come,yet I became like everyone,a young girl who had been seeded. And I holdmy breath, try to controlfingers clenched like castrated stumps,to concentrate,and I push and I thrustthe gearshift in firstand I driveI drivewith the flowing cars, a river beneath the sun. translated from the Hebrew by Daniel Ginsburg, with Rutie Eckdish [End Page 129] We Have Grown For “R” An escape route has appeared to me through the barred windowlooking at the basketball court and the main roadmy thoughts glided like pigeons from the asbestos roof of the parking lot, whereI hid the cigarette buttsAt night on the court young boys hit each other, their criesgot mixed up in my dream and in the daysbetween the fast cars children playedstreet roulette, also my little brother (And one time he scraped my records with a knife,to scratch the voices, also he recorded himself shriekingon the small tape, to this day I keep this recording) And still we grew up, almost without parents, we had toraise ourselvesto disobey one another and to slamthe doors, we didn’t have keysand the dishes raised filth in the sinkmy bones were becoming meager, my skinstarted to fall off meand one day I was able to squeeze through the bars. translated from the Hebrew by Daniel Ginsburg, with Rutie Eckdish [End Page 130] Shira Stav Shira Stav is an Israeli poet. These translations are from her first book, Slow Tongue. Daniel Ginsburg Daniel Ginsburg holds a JD from the University of Maryland and is currently in the MFA program in Creative Writing at American University. Copyright © 2017 Pleiades and Pleiades Press