I.
Our confrontation is written down,
the dramaturgy only seems to be foreign.
If you only look at the style, the grand totality,
the stretched-out perspective
that dangles over my housing-sized head like a swing,
the Manhattan baroque,
the eye can easily take you in.
Logical, you’ll see nothing more in me
than a new sort of King Kong.
And to give it shape, sweep over
a skyscraper leaning at a suitable angle,
all the way to the obscured sky.
I assure you I will be there,
get your camera ready.
Even if the fear can’t be wiped away
without the lower layers
coming to harm,
the mystery, as is proper, shall still be me.
So research the consequences of my appearance,
swap memory cards,
back up as far as you can,
this needs to be played.
I ensure the space,
but the line is in your hands.
Otherwise the sacrifices are pointless,
the death will be meaningless.
As will the uncut version.
II.
Your reputation need not precede you,
it’s a shame to rush ahead.
Beneath your footfalls the space becomes a scene,
the disaster zone can be yours,
as can everything that comes with an emergency.
The city closes in at such times.
It would foist its every desert upon you,
the bamboo forests through you,
and mostly through your heart,
the catalogues’ full offering.
Okay, okay, you fit into small spaces,
you didn’t have a kid’s room.
But if you’re this frightened,
they can’t point the camera at you,
your work will dangle, a moment’s morsel,
like a body part half broken off.
It’s not boring, this rambling,
we’ll get on well for a time.
But this is worth it.
We launched this project with the support of the Kult Minor - Fund for the Support of National Minority Culture. Its aim is to translate contemporary Hungarian poetry in Slovakia into English. We want to create a virtual anthology of contemporary Hungarian poetry in Slovakia.