The 8th Wonder of the World
I was damned to ask Catrina today if she knows what the eighth wonder of the world is, just to mess her up. Turns out I found my match. I don’t know, she says, I just came from church. Well, the eighth wonder of the world is technology. It’s sensed even into the holy church and within the parishioners. I went to sit in the pews, because my bones have been hurting, and I pray. But the evil never sleeps. Today, in the stalls, with their phones in their hands, some ladies were reading real fiction. God help us.
(Translated by Oana Irina Oprea / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Romeo and Juliet 2022
She had chosen to remain a volunteer at the nursing home, protecting herself. She wanted to see the good side of her life towards others. Time had robbed her, but her eyes swam in gentleness. He came on the first day of 2022. Calmly, he handed her the papers and then she forgot to breathe. She had taken roots again. Her words twitched in her throat, and then he knew he had found her. They went outside and sat down on a bench. They just stared at each other in silence as the young people walking down the alley were shouting – Romeo and Juliet.
(Translated by Paula-Silvia Codescu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Fetish
Every time he leaves with business, a black cat crosses his way, an old lady appears out of nowhere with an empty bucket and even he retraces his steps. He took the principles out of hibernation, shook them hard and, unsatisfied, decided to dig about everything he considered to be tabu. He had enough of decency and interdictions so he will open his chakras, which had been numb for a long time. Meditating in paranormal, he got a tattoo on his forehead of the symbol sent by the inner universe. Tomorrow he will tattoo it on his own hologram. The reality and the virtual will protect him eternally.
(Translated by Diana Stănescu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Room 101
He watched me amazed as I was immersed in the rows of books every day instead of playing. I told him that I read until I about myself, time and space, and the printed words sometimes turned into birds. One day, he left a note in my backpack. So, I dragged my steps and curiosity to that address, with the doubt holding my hand. The strange child in me had easily found room 101. I clung to the door and listened to the suspicious silence. The library hugged me. My books will be here, I promise to myself.
(Translated by Alina-Mihaela Burciu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
I’ve Already Violated the First Resolution
We returned in the place where together with you, we would choose to shorten the road through unfenced orchards instead of crossing the beaten and conventional paths. You were always in a hurry to anywhere and I thought it would be like that forever. For a sigh I stumbled over your shadow and folded it with forgotten caresses from the cold slab it had frozen. Then I intertwined in my own inability to keep my word, and I wandered with all the diamonds flowing on my cheeks, in my childhood with you in my soul.
(Translated by Angelica Ioana Curcan / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)