Veo

Veo

Hladno zvezdano nebo,

zapenjeno more i severni vetar.

Sam ne znam pravo gde sam,

kuda bih, ni koga čekam

u ovoj noći.

Okrenut ledjima pučini, sporo odmičem

sve dalje u kopno.

Ali kad god se okrenem, vidim:

tamo, ivicom mora,

vitka i bela žena ide.

I stanem i gledam kako

njen veo vetar nosi.

Ne brzo, ne visoko,

ali sve dalje od mene.

(Maj, 1954)

Veil

A cold and starry sky,

Foaming sea and northern wind. 

I couldn't say exactly where I am,

Where I'm heading, or whom I await

in this night. 

My back to the abyss, I slowly walk away

ever farther inland.

But whenever I turn around, I see:

there, by the sea's shore, 

a slender and fair woman passes. 

I stop and watch how

her veil is carried in the wind. 

Not fast, not high, 

but ever farther from me. 

(translated by Pavle Ninkovic)