Our Motorbike

BY  EL FR IE DE J EL IN EK
TRANSLATED BY  MI CH AE L H OF MA NN
rocket water 
eglantine 
wooden moon on the roof 
                                    signs of night & 
                                    the red motorbike's 
                                    bleeding muscle 
                                    fleshed stalk dripping 
                                    and overgrowing our evening 
                                    it too 
                                    a sign of darkness 
a leek's fat body 
the red motorbike 
our night fire 
ravishment of chrome 
steel 

our red motorbike glazed 

with henna and betel it squirts 
salmon  juice between the dark 
of our thighs it sprouts 
and shouts at the bar 
                                    it wears a portion of 
                                    evening in its eye 
                                    it sloughs off sleep like 
                                    the bushes drop resin & 
                                    berries 
our rags dip purring in 
even redder roar 
our muscles softly skip sweet 
sweat flickers we polish 
carefully & 
assiduously our eyes are perched 
on steel antennae surely there is 
nothing redder than our motorbike 
steed 
                                    we will live on it 
                                    our red tent 
                                    dig our claws into 
                                    its heart cherries meat it 
                                    shouts out 
                                    spittle rip 
                                    the juice instructs 
                                    the eyes 
                                    in the language of iron 

the red night squats 

pressed against our motorbike 

we ride hunting little girls 

in the wooden sky