Shoals

Abstract

Shoals Pia Tafdrup (bio) Translated by David McDuff (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Don’t just aim the telescopeat the night sky’s swarmingto discover one more planet. Turn it also toward the earth,toward the bottom of the sea,see the fish in between the rocks, a flicker of silver arrows,a glow of fire in the depths,the blunt force of fibers, the water burnswhen the fish shoot their way forwardand stop submerged in the seaweed gardens, look also toward the bottom of the sea,shoals of fish irradiate the darkness there,find rest in the waves. Translation from the Danish [End Page 27] Pia Tafdrup Danish poet Pia Tafdrup (www.tafdrup.com) has published twenty collections of poetry, including Queen’s Gate (2001), Tarkovsky’s Horses and Other Poems (2010), Salamander Sun and Other Poems (2015), and The Taste of Steel • The Smell of Snow (2021). She is the recipient of the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize (1999) and the Nordic Prize from the Swedish Academy (2006). Berøringen af hud (The touch of skin), the last book in her series about the senses, just appeared in Denmark. Photo by Isak Hoffmeyer David McDuff David McDuff (b. 1945) is a Scottish translator, editor, and literary critic. His translations include works of nineteenth-century Russian fiction in Penguin Classics and Nordic poetry from Bloodaxe. In 2021 he was honored with the Swedish Academy’s Interpretation Prize (Tolkningspris). Copyright © 2022 World Literature Today and the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma