Prayed In His Own Language

Written by Vladas Braziūnas

Translated from the Lithuanian by Jonas Zdanys 

Narrated by Bill Wolak

 

dried oceans raged and tangled 

with shadows of ravaged houses, wild 

rivers having left their banks gushed through 

meadows soaked with clouds, through pastures 

dying God was terrified 

was laid up exhausted by wind and uncertainty 

in which of the world’s waters the spirit  

will flame or disappear, hissing like steel 

for which worm will blossom 

a bride will open, the plum of innocence will swell 

the olive tree will blossom, the lilac 

the dahlia will pierce the dragon and locusts will fly 

with them the conversation will be short 

the language of voracious shadows 

 

Vladas Braziūnas, a Lithuanian poet and translator, has published some fifty collections of  poems, translations of European poetry and prose into Lithuanian, and various anthologies and literary and cultural almanacs. He has received many national and international literary prizes and awards for his work. As a photographer, Braziūnas has staged photography exhibitions throughout Lithuania and in other European countries. For more information, please visit his website http://vladas.braziunas.net   

Jonas Zdanys, a bilingual poet and translator, is the author of fifty-three books: collections of his own poetry, written in English or in Lithuanian, and volumes of his translations into English of Lithuanian poetry and fiction. He has received a number of prizes, book awards, writing and travel grants, and public recognitions for his own poetry and for his translations. He is currently Poet in Residence and Professor Emeritus of English at Sacred Heart University. For more information, please visit his website https://jonaszdanys.org