Strange Radiance:  Emily Newman & John Pearson

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Gallery

The Three Rivers Arts Festival

June 1-10

An Extraordinary Adventure Which Happened To Me, Vladimir Mayakovsky, In A Summer Cottage

140 suns blazed in one sunset,

rolling into July;

it was so hot

even the evening was sweating—

this was out in the country,

the village of Pushkino,

a little hump

at the foot of Mount Akula,

cracked roofs caving in.

Just outside of town

was a gaping hole,

and every evening

it slowly swallowed the sun.

In the morning

the sun would rise again

to flood the world

with yellow and red.

This happened

every day—

I was fed up with it.

One day I got so pissed off

everything turned white,

and I yelled at the sun:

“Get out of here,

you lazy bag of gas!

While you’re loafing on a bed of

clouds

I’m down here painting posters

all year ‘round.

Look, Blondie,

how about showing a little humility;

come down to my place for a cup of tea!”

Uh-oh,

now I’ve done it!

Here he comes!

striding over the hill,

spreading his beaming steps

across the fields,

heading straight toward me!

I backed up slowly,

tried to show I wasn’t afraid.

His eyes lit up the garden

then his flaming head and shoulders

pressed against the windows,

doors,

and corners,

until he burst through

and spoke in a deep bass:

“Poet, for the very first time

I’m restraining myself,

so I won’t burn you.

You called?

Well, Pour the tea

and spread the jam!”

The heat was killing me—

my eyes filled with tears,

but I put the samovar on the fire

and said:

“Have a seat, comrade luminary!”

Some nerve I had,

shouting at him—

what had come over me?

I sat down,

completely confused,

not knowing what would happen next.

But a strange radiance

streamed from the sun,

and feeling more at ease,

I began to chat

about this

and that,

about how I’d been knocking myself out

doing publicity for ROSTA,

but the sun said:

“Okay,

calm down,

things aren’t all that bad.

I suppose you think it’s easy for me

to shine;

you try it—

going around and around the world

shining your eyes out!”

We kept talking till it got dark,

till the night before, I mean.

How could there be darkness here?

We became friendly

and soon

I was slapping him on the back

like he was a pal of mine,

and he said:

“You and I make quite a team,

old buddy!

Come on,

let’s rise

and sing

and brighten up this drab world—

me with my sunshine,

you with your poems.”

A wall of shadows,

a jail of nights

were shot down by our double-barreled suns.

And explosion of poetry and light—

shining in spite of everything!

And when the sun gets tired at night,

I shine with all my might—

and day begins again,

shining everywhere,

forever shining,

till the end of time—

and to hell with everything else!

That’s my motto—

and the sun’s!

Vladimir Mayakovsky, 1920

Translated by Larry Fagin