This week, we take a look at Alexandra Niemi’s searing translation of Dmitry Golynko’s poem “Government Funding,” which deeply resonates with our uncertain moment. Read the poem in full at The Offing.
From “Government Funding”
(Translated from the Russian)
1
a rusted-out sedan stuck in traffic, they arrived
in droves from the rebel region to enroll, life
embittered in solid chocolate, an osteopath
found signs of pelvic dislocation in a laborer
from the mining sector, in government funding,
the inevitable bankroll of negative emotions,
siphoned for military use with third-party
government assistance, cooked up Turkish style
2
white supremacists, approaching
a migrant, don’t break a sweat slapping
your noble visage, called that old-hag baby
momma the proprietress of the paunch, get to the top
thanks to brain excision, fast-tracked
by government funding, an armored security vehicle
cut off by a station wagon, going out with bats
for a good thrashing, practically clinging to his leg
3
a shabby drone takes off from a war base
acting the false target, instantly shot down
by the powers of the Protective Ground Forces,
rebels fall around the fucked supervisory mission,
pouring rain fills the government-funded
UAV, the rocket bombardment of enemy
supply stations was memorable, the likelihood
of missing utterly low, the time has come
4
an overgrown manchild importantly spitting
his wild image, going shopping along the main
drag of city life, greedily bringing his lips
closer to the bottle to get to the bottom
of non-things, government-funded
direct shipments of liquid soap are held up
en route, caught him red-sleeved, rubbed
his nose in what he’d done, toasted to the deal
5
sucked down a liter of brown liquor
in one swig before boarding, the microflora
turned out badly by all accounts, delayed
release didn’t earn any fans, thrown under
the bus on bad advice, with government funding
the formula of modernity isn’t manifesting
at all from the desired preconditions, a jacked
motionless body, risked a step aside
6
two thugs carrying a stereo system, the climax
of the shopping riot at the looted corner
store, the night before the savage collapse in prices
the cash machine was ramped to full speed, looks
dead on its feet, the government funding
includes educational developments, raises
tuition, the dodo bird’s getting fat, started
hiccupping from the booze, yawns sweetly
Alex Niemi currently teaches Russian at the University of Iowa where she received her MFA in Literary Translation in 2014. Her writing and translations from the French, Russian, and Spanish have appeared in Drunken Boat, Asymptote, Action Yes, Horse Less Press Review, Prelude, Dusie, and others. Her translation from the French of The John Cage Experiences by Vincent Tholomé is forthcoming in 2018 from Autumn Hill Books.
Dmitry Golynko’s books of poetry include Homo Scribens [1994], Директория [The Directory, 2001], Бетонные голубки [Concrete Doves, 2003], As It Turned Out [2008], Что это было и другие обоснования [What It Was and the Other Arguments, 2012], Приметы времени [The Signs of Time, 2017]. Golynko is a recipient of numerous grants and fellowships including CEC ArtsLink Residency at UPenn, DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, KulturKontakt Austria, International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, Ventspils Writers’ and Translators’ House residency. Currently he teaches film theory at St. Petersburg University of Film and Television Studies and works as an independent scholar in the field of contemporary visual culture, biopolitics, accelerationism and object-oriented poetics.
