“Ars Amandi” by Ștefan Manasia, trans. from the Romanian by Clara Burghelea

Ars Amandi

A girl shall come to lighten my flesh
a soft wildling, a silent killer.
And tracing the pattern of his heart
(that has been infuriating him since he was four)
Manasia will come out unarmed
(the butterflies carry menacing signs)
confidently stepping into the blue spot
(moon the size of a little coin
nearly buried in the sand)
and the girl shall caress him and stir his flesh
even his nails, even his hairs. 


Ars Amandi

Va veni iar o fată să îmi ilumineze carnea,
Sălbăticiune soft, asasină tăcută.
Şi, urmînd patternul inimii lui 
(Care-l exasperează de pe la patru ani),
Manasia va ieși din nou neînarmat
(Fluturii poartă semne amenințătoare)
Intrînd încrezător sub spotul albastru
(Luna cît un bănuț 
Pe trei sferturi îngropat în nisip)
Și fata îl va mîngîia și îi va cutremura carnea
Chiar unghiile, chiar firele de păr.

Ștefan Manasia

Ștefan Manasia is a Romanian poet, journalist, and editor. He published seven volumes of poetry and had his poems translated in Hungarian, French, German, Polish, and Modern Hebrew. He is the author of a collection of essays and literary chronicles called The Aroma Stabilizer and a short story collection, The Chronovisor. His most recent poetry collection is The Obscure Sources (2024).

Clara Burghelea (she/ her)

Clara Burghelea is an exophonic poet and translator, author of three poetry collections.

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Translator’s Note:

There are six “Ars Amandi” poems in Ștefan Manasia’s collection, The Taste of Cherries. This one invokes the feminine presence as both desire and longing. The speaker introduces Manasia, the poet, as the male spirit yearning for a “a soft wildling, a silent killer” to lighten and stir his flesh. The poem reads both as prayer and prophecy, with the crescent moon manifesting sexual love.

Translating Ștefan Manasia’s poetry is always a challenge and enjoyment. His poems are equally sensorial, intimate, experimental, documenting his engagement with the mundane world and what it feels like to embrace desire, longing, nostalgia, or being a parent.