Lampa
Lampa
A ti si opšiv mojih nesanica,
Pena što rubi vrtlog od praznine;
Bezlična, znam ti svaku crtu lica
U mreži ostakljene paučine
U naprslom ogledalu; tišina
Mreška se kao skorup od tvog glasa
Iz druge sobe, gde je pomrčina
U kojoj treptiš ko praslika spasa -
Leptire sive šalješ, da mi kruže
Okolo lampe u krhkoj orbiti,
Po slojevima nevidljive ruže,
A kad pred zoru usnem, tada i ti
Utrneš, ko na okret prekidača
U ruci što je odsutna, al jača.
Lamp
And you’re the source of my insomnia,
Foam that crowns the whirlpool of emptiness;
Faceless, I know every line of your face
In the crystallised spider web
In the shattered mirror; silence
Ripples like the cream of your voice
From another room, where there is darkness
In which you blink like the prototype of salvation -
You send grey butterflies, to circle
About my lamp in a precarious orbit,
On the layers of an invisible rose,
And when I rise at dawn, that’s when
You turn numb, like by a flick of the switch
In the absent, yet stronger hand.
(Translated by Pavle Ninković)