Ljudi-sjenke

Ima na svijetu mirnih, dobrih ljudi

što kroz život nečujno i tiho gaze

kao da nogom stupaju po pamuku,

a naše oči nikada ne opaze

ni njih ni njinu tihu radost ili muku.

Ima ćutljivih patnika na svijetu

što se samo umorno i gorko nasmiješe

na ljude kad se o njih teško ogriješe

i suminu ih nevini, nalik cvijetu.

I ima ljudi usamljenih i bonih,

sa obrazima upalim i žutim,

što ne čuje im se ni smijeha ni plača,

što žive kao samotna i divlja drača,

ali s bodljama unutra okrenutim,

da nijedna nikog ne ogrebe

i da nijednom nikoga ne ubodu

do samo svoje rođeno srce i sebe.

Njih ne vidi naše oko kad ih srijeta,

kad tiho prođu u mimogredu mirnu,

jer nikog oni ni laktom ne dodirnu

u vječnoj gužvi i vrevi

ovog svijeta.

I žive oni tako, nečujni i neveseli,

i mile kao sjenke, kao vrijeme i sati,

i tek kad umru, slomljeni i uveli,

objave crni posmrtni plakati

da su i oni sa nama živjeli.

Shadow People

(Written in 1937/38)

There are, in this world, quiet, gentle people

Who walk through life in silence

As if treading on cotton, And our eyes never see

Them, nor their humble joy, nor their torment.

There are, in this world, silent, suffering people

Who give only a bitter, weary smile

To those who gravely wrong them,

And pass them by, pure as blossom.

There are people who are lonely and sick,

Their cheeks sunken and yellow

Who you never see laugh nor cry,

Who live like lone, wild brambles

With thorns facing inwards

To scratch no one,

To sting no one

But themselves.

Our eyes do not see them as they walk,

As they pass quietly by

Brushing past no one In the eternal hustle and bustle

Of this world.

And so they live, in silence and sorrow,

Striding like shadows, like time and hours,

And only when they die, withered and broken,

Will a black ribboned notice announce

That once, they lived among us.

Translated in English collaboratively by: Jelena Radusinović Alexandra Perović Anastasia Randall