Ivan Hristov (1978, Bulgaria) is a poet and a literary researcher. He is the author of the poetry collections Сбогом, деветнайсти век (Farewell, Nineteenth Century, National Prize for the best poetic debut Southern Spring 2002), Бдин (Bdin, National literary prize Svetlostruy 2006) and Американски поеми (American Poems, 2013), as well as of an academic monograph. Любовен речник (A Dictionary of Love), his fourth poetry book, was published in 2018.
His works have been translated into a dozen of languages. In 2015, Bdin was published in Turkish. The next year Bdin followed by American Poems came out in Romania. In 2019, within the framework of the European project Versopolis his third poetry book American Poems was published in Paris, France and his fourth poetry collection A Dictionary of Love, in Bratislava, Slovakia. Since 2019, Ivan Hristov has been a director of the Sofia: Metaphors Poetry Festival International Program. He currently works, as a researcher, at the Institute for Literature of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
A
Acacia
Your thighs – acacia
White, with a pleasant scent
Able to endure low
and high temperatures
Used for reinforcing
steep hillsides swaths
With a deep root system
Reaching wet layers of soil
A precious honey-producing species
Transparent pale-greenish honey
Dark brown seeds
A flat follicle
ripens at the end of summer
In the core of every stem
two prickly thorns
Alabaster
Alabaster is the world
In a milk-white colour
Milk-white sea
Milk-white sky
Sugar milk-white
in warm white milk
It has a porous structure
A vessel for perfumes
and essential oils
can easily be crafted
Amber
noun, sing. used as a mass noun only
Fossilized tree resin with a yellow color;
Related forms: amberlike, ambery, amberous
Amber necklace.
Amber nuggets.
Burning stone
If natural amber is rubbed vigorously
against wool or silk,
it becomes negatively charged.
When Zeus got tired of hearing
the wailing of dead Phaeton’s mother and sisters,
he turned them into willows.
Yet they kept weeping.
Their tears fell into the water
like drops of amber,
which the river carried out to the sea
C
Crimson
A color of the group of non-spectral colors
A combination of blue and red
similar to purple
It belongs to the warm colors
not like purple
which
belongs to the cold ones
It is often confused with dark red
Similar to blood red
Associations:
Power, monarchy, high aristocracy
H
Hops
There once was a ritual in which newlyweds were sprinkled
with the fragrant green cones
of this plant
this way, people wished them
health and quick-to-come offspring
And they were never late in coming
Today, dry hops cones
or special hops teas
can be bought from the pharmacy.
The hops is stewed and then drunk,
added to rejuvenating baths
or used for rinsing the hair…
There is hops in beer as well.
It gives the drink a bit of bitterness,
that balances the sweetness of the malt,
and the floral, citrus and herbal fragrances and tastes.
When the beer is finished, it prolongs the foam’s staying power,
and with its acidity acts as a preservative
Men
who abuse this foamy drink
should keep in mind,
that in time
too much infatuation
might make them the owners
of feminine curves
I
Ivy
I am ivy
My leaves are hard,
green in winter, too,
varying in form
from shield to pointed star
My stalks are fitted
with tiny knots –
roots that have been transformed,
and I use them to clutch at you.
Contrary to the common view
I am not a parasite
my roots do not suck
your nutrients dry,
they only use you for support
my blossoms are greenish-yellow
My strange fruit ripens
at the end of winter, the beginning of spring
which is exactly the opposite
of other plants
I am only vulnerable to the worst cold snaps
My leaves should be
sprinkled regularly
and I should receive enough light
but don’t expose me
to direct sunlight
J
Jasmine
Oh beauty
Oh feminine temptation
Blessing and grace
Sensuality and freshness
Night of secrets
Which only the moon
can see
In the morning
jasmine arrows from Kama
At night
a garland in the sea of hair
in which I drown
Mercy
A confession of love
Cleopatra
goes to meet
Mark Antony
in a boat
whose sails are covered in jasmine
M
Myrtle
The most humble of plants
A symbol of sensual love
The flower of Adam and Eve – exiles from Eden
Sparkling fragrant leaves
An old legend tells that
the first man took it with him
to plant it into the sinful Earth
even though it was just one of the plants adorning the garden of bliss
A symbol of hope
An echo of heavenly happiness
An Angel appears in front of Zachariah, the prophet, in a myrtle bush
and he announces the restoration of Kingdom of Israel
V
Vines
Exuberant greenery
brilliant hues
exterior decoration
they hide unpleasant parts
and architectural elements
Climbing
hortensia, wild grapes, ivy and tecoma
Clinging
Characteristically weak, flexible, with very long shoots
The climbing rose
Twining
known here as “the gramophone” – ipomoea
Sprawling
Asarina (lofos, maurandya)
They have the strongest decorative effect
and do the most damage
They must be strictly tended,
cut back when they get overgrown
Be careful not to let their roots take hold of your home,
The first step towards its destruction
Z
Zephyr
(in Greek Ζέφυρος)
Oh Zephyr
son of the starry sky and the dawn
Of the storms and the rain
Strength and vehemence
Warmth and tenderness
A young man with wings
Hyacinth with a bloodied head
Psyche saved from the monster
Thin translucent ethereal clothing
delicate flowers fallen
you slip beneath the nightgown
like a spring breeze
in a valley
Translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel
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