Breath by Annemette Kure Andersen translated by Thom Satterlee


 
 
A forgotten fact can suddenly
appear for instance in
the moment when I happen
to think about the physiological
phenomenon that occurs to a
person who’s about to freeze to death,
a sensation of extreme warmth
just before death calls and
so the person starts undressing,
now I notice that you have arranged
yourself like pearls around
my lips

 
 
 

Thom Satterlee‘s translations of the Danish poet Annemette Kure Andersen‘s work have appeared in The Literary Review, Agni, The Connecticut Review, Osiris, Sulphur River Literary Review, and elsewhere. His own poetry has appeared in Southwest Review, Crazyhorse, Sycamore Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. His book of poetry Burning Wyclif (Texas Tech UP, 2006) was an American Library Association Notable Book and a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. He is the recipient of a 2009 NEA Fellowship in Poetry.
 
Annemette Kure Andersen was born in 1962 in Ribe, Denmark. She studied Danish and Italian literature at the University of Aarhus, receiving her M.A. in 1990 in Italian literature. English translations of her work have appeared in Agni, Black Warrior Review, The Connecticut Review, The Literary Review, Osiris, Sulphur River Literary Review, and Verse. Her tenth collection of poetry was published in 2013.