sie sitzen am webstuhl und weben, weben, weben, schon wieder 14 jahrhunderte.
der stoff quillt, wie abfall der geschichte, ein schmutziger, düsterer staat.
er schlägt ein auf den stoff, schlägt kreise, schlägt solange, bis eine fahne entsteht,
bis die fahne sagt: auf mich wurde eingeschlagen.die weber*innen
Meine Vagina is the first collection in German by Moldovan-Romanian and Ukrainian poet Galina Rymbu who grew up in Russia. Published by Verlagshaus Berlin, translated by Tillmann Severin and illustrated by Moana Vonstadl, the collection blends personal expression with collective outcry. Rymbu’s poems navigate themes of propaganda, violence, love, and the body, intertwining historical reflection with contemporary urgency.
Galina Rymbu’s writing is tender and hard, impulsive and thoughtful, pulsating in a fascinating, experimental, anarcho-feminist way. To me, this collection reads as poetry from and for the post-soviet Russia as described by M. Gessen in The Future Is History – and as such crucial reading for our contemporary moment.
Translation of the German translation:
they sit at the loom and weave, weave, weave, another 14 centuries.
the fabric swells, like the refuse of history, a dirty, dark state.
it beats on the fabric, beats in circles, beats until a flag emerges,
until the flag says: I have been beaten.the weavers
Thoughts?