Ivan Hristov is a Bulgarian poet and literary researcher. He is the author of the poetry collections Farewell, Nineteenth Century (winner of the prize for best poetic debut from the National Southern Spring Competition 2002) and Bdin (winner of the national literary prize Svetlostruy 2006, in 2015 “Bdin” was published in Turkey), as well as the academic monograph The Sagittarius Circle and the Idea of the Native (2009). In 2013 his third poetry book American poems was published. In 2016 in Romania was published the book Bdin, followed by American poems which contains his last two poetry books. Since 2010, he has been a member of the organizing committee for the international Sofia: Poetics festival. He currently works at the Institute for Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
From “A Dictionary of Love”
A
Acacia
Your thighs – acacia
White, with a pleasant scent
Able to endure low
and high temperatures
Used for reinforcing
Steep hillsides swaths
With a deep root system
Reaching wet layers of soil
A precious honey-producing species
Transparent pale-greenish honey
Dark brown seeds
A flat follicle
Ripens at the end of summer
In the core of every stem
Two prickly thorns
I
Ivy
I am ivy
My leaves are hard,
green in winter, too,
varying in form
from shield to pointed star
My stalks are fitted
with tiny knots –
roots that have been transformed,
and I use them to clutch at you.
Contrary to the common view
I am not a parasite
my roots do not suck
your nutrients dry,
they only use you for support
my colors are greenish-yellow
My strange fruit ripens
at the end of winter, the beginning of spring
which is exactly the opposite
of other plants
I am only vulnerable to the worst cold snaps
My leaves should be
sprinkled regularly
and I should receive enough light
but don’t expose me
to direct sunlight
Jasmine
Oh beauty
Oh feminine temptation
Blessing and grace
Sensuality and freshness
Night of secrets
Which only the moon
Can see
in the morning
Jasmine arrows from Kama
at night
A garland in the sea of hair
In which I drown
Mercy
A confession of love
Cleopatra
Goes to meet
Mark Antony
In a boat
whose sails are covered in jasmine
