WAITING ROOM by Tzotcho Boyajiev, translated from the Bulgarian by Tom Phillips

WAITING ROOM

the clock has no hands

so you can sit with your back to time

the grass between the rails repudiates all timetables as it is

it’s possible the cloud will pass in the evening

                        but it’s wise to keep hope muted

if you’ve grown used to its caprices

even if it appears

the bell will probably hold its tongue between its teeth

convinced there’s no place for its voice in the score of silence

and it’s absurd to listen for announcements

when you’re the welcomer the passenger and the railman

you cannot attest to a wound where there’s no scar

or blame the poplars for the shadows’ sharp incisors

it’s afternoon

this is the last stop

to leave you have to arrive

Author and translator bios:

Born in 1951, Tzotcho Boyajiev has published nine collections of his own poetry (and in some cases photography), as well as an extensive range of works translated from Latin, Greek, and German. He has received three major national literary prizes and was named “most-read author of the decade” by Sofia City Library (2014–2024). A professor at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, he has an international reputation as a philosopher and is well-known in Bulgaria from his numerous TV appearances. The poems translated here are from a selected volume that formed the core of a recent theatre production based on his work at Sofia’s Sfumato Theatre.

Tom Phillips’s translations from Bulgarian extend across a broad spectrum of contemporary Bulgarian literature. Major forthcoming publications include two full-length volumes: Once there was Spring: The poems and prose-poems of Geo Milev (Worple Press, UK, 2025) and A Moment Short of Perfection: Selected poems of Kristin Dimitrova (White Pine Press, USA, 2026). His own poetry has been widely published in magazines, anthologies, pamphlets, and three full-length collections: Unknown Translations (2016), Recreation Ground (2012), and Burning Omaha (2003). He is currently living in Bulgaria, where he teaches translation and creative writing at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski.

© Tzotcho Boyajiev. Translation © by Tom Phillips. All rights reserved.

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