UNTIMELY LEAVING
Giacomo Manzù
UNTIMELY LEAVING
When a sun
which knows no more dawn
dies away
in its own light,
and the night
blots out its stars,
snaps the stem,
tears the leaf.
***
BORROWED DAWN
With its hand of shadow and darkness
unraveled the evening,
the defenseless light
unraveled the future,
the magic,
the borrowed dawn,
pulled out of the wick,
shed the oil,
extinguished time.
GERMAIN DROOGENBROODT
Translation by Stanley Barkan in cooperation with the author
