"Accents" by Denice Frohman

I'm Denice Frohman,

Prevoditelj: Ivana Korpar Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

Ja sam Denice Frohman,

and this is "Accents."

a ovo su "Naglasci."

my mom holds her accent like a shotgun,

moja mama drži svoj naglasak

kao pušku,

with two good hands.

s dvije zdrave ruke,

her tongue, all brass knuckle

njezin jezik, bokser

slipping in between her lips

koji klizi među njenim usnama

her hips, are all laughter and wind clap.

njezini bokovi

smijeh su i pljesak vjetra.

she speaks a sanchocho of spanish and english,

ona govori sanchocho španjolskog i engleskog

pushing up and against one another,

nadvladavajući se i naguravajući

in rapid fire

u brzoj paljbi

mira!

there is no telling my mama to be "quiet,"

ne možeš reći mojoj mami da se "utiša",

my mama don't know "quiet."

moja mama ne zna "tiho".

her voice is one size better fit all

njezin glas je jedna veličina, neka odgovara svima

and you best not tell her to hush,

i bolje ti je da je ne ušutkavaš,

she waited too many years for her voice to arrive

previše je godina čekala da stigne njezin glas

to be told it needed house keeping.

da bi joj sad rekli da ga ostavi kod kuće

English sits in her mouth remixed

engleski u njezinim ustima je remix

so "strawberry" becomes "eh-strawbeddy"

pa "strawberry" postaje"eh-strawbeddy"

and "cookie" becomes "eh-cookie"

a "cookie" postaje "eh-cookie"

and kitchen, key chain, and chicken all sound the same.

a kitchen, key chain i chicken svi zvuče isto.

my mama doesn't say "yes"

moja mama ne kaže "yes"

she says, "ah ha"

ona kaže "ah ha"

and suddenly the sky in her mouth becomes a Hector Lavoe song.

i odjednom nebo u njenim ustima postaje pjesma Hectora Lavoa.

her tongue can't lay itself down flat enough

njezin jezik ne može ležati dovoljno ravno

for the English language,

za engleski jezik

it got too much hip

ima prevelike bokove

too much bone

prejake kosti

too much conga

previše conga

too much cuatro

previše cuatro

to two step

za dvokorak

got too many piano keys

previše klavirskih tipaka

in between her teeth,

između njezinih zubi,

it got too much clave

ima previše clave

too much hand clap

previše pljeska

got too much salsa to sit still

previše salse da ostane miran

it be an anxious child wanting to

bio bi plašljivo dijete

želeći se igrati s plastelinom

make Play-Doh out of concrete

od betona

English be too neat for

engleski je preobičan

her kind of wonderful.

za njezinu vrstu čudesnog

her words spill in conversation

njezine riječi slijevaju se u razgovore

between women whose hands are all they got

žena čije su ruke sve što one imaju

sometimes our hands are all we got

nekad su naše ruke sve što imamo

and accents that remind us that we are still

i naglasci koji nas podsjećaju

da smo još uvijek bomba,

bomba, still plena

još uvijek plena

you say "wepa"

kažeš "wepa"

and a stranger becomes your hermano,

i stranac postane tvoj "hermano"

you say "dale"

kažeš "dale"

and a crowd becomes a family reunion.

i masa postane obiteljsko okupljanje

my mother's tongue is a telegram from her mother

jezik moje mame je telegram

od njezine majke

decorated with the coqui's of el campo

ukrašen s coqui's s el campo

so even when her lips can barely

pa čak i kad se njezine usne

stretch themselves around english,

jedva razvuku oko engleskog

her accent is a stubborn compass

njezin naglasak je tvrdoglavi kompas

always pointing her

usmjeravajući je uvijek

towards home.

u smjeru doma.