Poetry

Blood Cell Formation

by  Ruthie Jenrbekova
translated by Elaine Wilson
Linor Goralik, The Rescue of St. Christopher from the Basement of the Irpin Zoological Preserve by Soldiers of the Ukrainian Military Forces (2022), black cardboard, red, silver, green, and gold paper, black, gold, and burgundy gouache, pen, carabine, bandage, hemp / Courtesy of the artist / linorgoralik.com

On the International Day of Nauryz
Look for me not among the roses
Nor among the sparks of fountain mist
But among specters, briar and rushes

Play me some blues or maybe a polonaise
Play the shankobyz, use your mouth and tongue
We loved to fall up but now I’m afraid:
In order to love one must fall down

There will be a relapse as in the past
Midnight effusions—enuresis
Blood formation burns like psoriasis
Chills, scoliosis, hematopoiesis

And we will meet—Kazakh zhanie orys
To put one another through sorrow and bliss
A Tatar would have said “Nawryz”
But a therapist: “neurosis”

Translation from the Russian

Born in 1975 in Soviet Ukraine, Linor Goralik is an artist, writer, and poet who lives in Israel and addresses Russian-speaking audiences across the world. In 2022 she began to produce a series called A Few Icons about the War, including these works after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2022 Goralik founded the internet journal ROAR: Russian Oppositional Arts Review, for which she serves as chief editor.


Ruthie Jenrbekova was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and graduated from the Kazakh State University as an ecologist. Since 1997, she has been involved in various literary, artistic, and curatorial activities and also works as a cultural organizer. Together with Maria Vilkovisky, she is the cofounder of the imaginary art institution krёlex zentre. Her fields of interest include performance philosophy, material semiotics, and art-based methodologies. Currently a PhD candidate at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, she lives and works in Almaty and Vienna.


Elaine Wilson is a writer, literary translator, language instructor, and PhD candidate in the Department of Slavic Languages at Columbia University. She lives in New York City.

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