Hostage's Poem, Tomaž Šalamun | translation by Michael Thomas Taren

,

.

The sheep together with boats chew

the grass. In the dark we confound

the eagle and the colossus. There are

still leftovers in the stoves, pills and

bottles, the odor of hair is disinfected.

Then why so distant? Does the wind

make it different for us? And water

and grass that outgrows us? The strain is

that we’re not able to decay because of

your thoughts and illusions, that you will

learn. Learn what? That the tree won’t

burn? The lyric eats. People will still

join in heaps to go into the aesthetic

of sweet scent. We’ll still water the well.