Outliving people and trees
Tomas Venclova
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CORNFLOWER SKY
In the middle of sky’s temple
blooms a flower
Kabir
A BIRD CALL
pierces
first flicker of light
sun hides
its gold
in the trees
*
HOW BEAUTIFUL
are the beginnings
of things
I watch
the pale of the moon
in the dawn of the sky
do not ask why
*
TIME LINGERS
to wash away words
while the leaf dreams
inside the leaf
the flower lifts its head
from its scattered sleep
and meets the sun
*
SCARVED WOMEN
cuddle newborn loaves
to their breasts
weave wide skirts
through potato
and onion sacks
lettuce head girls
arrange
fresh picked flowers
embroider dreams
with sun thread laughter
*
COBBLESTONES
of Vilnius
unfold centuries
every morning
before the city wakes
the lonely walk
near fading lilacs
a woman rustles
through rubbish
she sorts the bins
into plastic bags
sits on the park bench
feeds the birds
her hunger
*
ON DRAGON’S SHIP
she swirls
with sun spirals
in her hair
she captures
the cornflower sky
and looks at sleep
through window ruins
*
THE BELL
left its church
absent–mindedly
in search of lost
hours
*
EVERY MORNING
at the break of dawn
with hand made brooms
men and women
sweep the streets
of the city
at intervals men sit
by building fences
to smoke
women’s faces
lined in hardship
gather their
loaded dust
*
THE WIND’S MOAN
fills the sky
with raven wings
blood maple
spreads
across fading sun
birds collage
opens to chorus
*
LONG WHITE NIGHT
walks the ceiling
doors echo
all they’ve heard
windows stare
into an empty street
a Persian cat
ghosts the footpath
Scelsi’s Anahit
enters the walls
from bilingual poetry collection “Something is said” published by Lithuanian Writers Union publishers, Vilnius, 2013