oi! boy

BY Kira Pietrek

oi! boy

come on and shut it
this empty gate

shout

no more fuckin’ revolution!
or not
come on now shut it
and stop

no more fuckin’ revolution!

and this fuckin’ no
stop saying your fucking

no
shouting

are children of the revolution being born
or not being born?
are the fuckin’ children of the fuckin’ revolution being born
or not being born?!

a nurse is crying
and a baby’s crying
and another baby’s crying
a new human is being born here
every second and none
I say
none of them will be a child of the revolution
a flower child
a child of the nation
your child my child
and fuck all!

more cucumbers for a pound
we’re running head over heels
still you score a pound of weed
and I food it’s tough
not to use your teeth for real
it’s tough not to use your teeth
are you you and is me me?
choose one two three it’s either
you or
me!

translated by Ola Bilińska

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Kira Pietrek, born 1983, creates poetry, graphic design, illustrations and advertisements. She has published in anthologies Słynni i świetni and Poznań poetów (1989-2010) (published by WBPiCAK, Poznań), as well as in Ósmy Arkusz Odry and Tygodnik Powszechny. She was awarded the Wrocław Silesius Poetic Prize in the “Debut of the Year” category for her book Język korzyści. She has also won many awards for her achievements in advertising: Silver Chimera 2009, Grand Prix Golden Eagles 2010, Golden Eagle 2010 in the category “Art Director of the Year”; The KTR 2011 award – silver, in the “Place Branding” category, and the Media Trendy 2011 award in the “Innovative Special Actions and Events” category. She lives in Poznań.

Ola Bilińska, photo Magdalena KmiecikOla Bilińska, born 1986, singer, songwriter and translator, student at the English Literature Department of Warsaw University. She is currently writing her MA thesis on the influence of music, sound and performance on the poetry of G.M. Hopkins, T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas. In an attempt to put theory into practice, she writes song lyrics and translates for other bands, most recently for Pustki. Ola sings in Płyny, an urban-folk band from Warsaw, and Muzyka Końca Lata, a group of nostalgic neo-bigbeaters. Her own stage project involving poetry, music and image has started off recently under the name Babadag.