Vrati se u svoju jazbinu

Osramoćeni hromi vuče

I tamo spavaj

Dok se ne zaledi lavež

I zarđaju psovke i crknu baklje

Sveopšte hajke

I dok se svi ne skljokaju

Praznih ruku u sebe

I pregrizu sebi jezik od muke

I silnici psoglavci s nožem za uvom

I hajkači sa polnim udom na ramenu

I lovački zmajevi vukožderi

Četvoronoške puzim pred tobom

I urlam u tvoju slavu

Kao u velika

Zelena tvoja vremena

I molim ti se stari moj hromi bože

Vrati se u svoju jazbinu

The Offering to the Lame Wolf

Return to your den

Disgraced lame wolf

And sleep there

Till the barking freezes

And swear-words rust

And torches of the universal hunt die

And till everybody falls

Empty-handed into themselves

And bite their own tongue out of anguish

And dog-headed rulers with a knife behind the ear

And the huntsmen with the sex organ over the shoulder

And the hunting dragons the wolf-eaters

I crawl on all fours before you

And howl to your glory

As in your great

Green times

And I pray to you my old lame god

Return to your den

[Translated by Zdravka Gugleta, or based on Pennington’s translation: Vasko Popa, Collected Poems. Trans. Anne Pennington and Francis R. Jones. Ed. Francis R. Jones. (London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1997), 127-261.]