Sunday, February 18, 2007

Perovian Song Bird Discovered

The following dialogue was picked up on the mic input of a media player in the Assembly House last night. I have transcribed it making no alterations except where the sense would have been lost without them.

Rob: Your turn, Lucas. I’ll have a pint of Pride.
Maria: Another of those fizzy wines, please Lucas.
Lucas: O.K – a pint of Pride and a spritzer

(Bar noises and me ordering the drinks)

Rob: Cheers Mate
Maria Cheers
Lucas I got some nuts
Rob: So Maria why won’t you read us one of your…
Maria: One of my poems you mean?
Rob: Yeah – you are mean not showing them to us
Maria: Yes – but it’s the translation: I still compose in Perovian and then into English. It’s like with the Noise poem – I have to search for the silence and out of the …
Rob: Yeah the silence…the Word comes from that…translate your own word!
Maria: Anyway you did most of the translating. I gave you just the literal meanings…
Rob: Nah. It was mostly you luv. Come in – join the mob. You’re one of us now. Let’s have one of your pomes. I know you’ve got one with you be… cause you were writing it when I got here. I saw that notebook you’ve been secreting about your person.
Lucas: I seem to remem’er you used to be quite coy – at the Frenz House when you first went
Rob: Save some of those nuts for me, Lucas mate. Yeeh!! We all need to get the right moment – nahmeen? Maria this has got to be it….
Maria: Mmmm
Rob: Good on yer girl..
Unidentified
Voice: Someone turn the light out – I’m goin to sleep – turn the light orf.
Second unid.
Voice No, don’t do that. I’m still reading.
Maria Well – here goes then

Maria reads one of her poems from her forthcoming collection.
(For copyright reasons I am not allowed to blog it. Maria would not mind herself. It is a fact that the publishers and her sponsors – The Perovian Institute of New Writing – have expressly restricted any pre-publication. Let’s not forget that the P.I.N.W is an important contributor to the literary scene in that small but significant country and we should not disregard its wishes lightly. Even Noise’s membership was suspended for several years when he was suspected of Romanticism. The charge was completely unfounded, of course, but he was left out in the cold for a while.
N.B. Robert and Maria are flying Pero this week for a holiday and hopefully will be able to get permission, while they are there, for Maria to release a few of her poems in translation.)

Rob: yes.
Lucas I really enjoyed that – Thanks Maria. The images from painting and drawing were so strong!

Unident.
Voice You’re not one of them bleedin graffiti artists are you!