This poem is taken from PN Review 202, Volume 38 Number 2, November - December 2011.
Five Poems (translated by Jacquelyn Pope)
After the Flood
After the Flood there you sit
next to the boat, the fish
gasping for air, the hare finding
nothing to eat yet and all the birds
left behind. There you sit
in the same skirt in which, waters ago,
you boarded the ship, but the dance
has drained from your feet. For once the rain
blew over at last, the water
was lulled mirror-smooth, you saw
your world turned upside down and lower still
any movement stalled for good and
when you took a better look that too
that image stayed with you and how
with each glance your essence
lost more depth. Now you sit,
...
After the Flood there you sit
next to the boat, the fish
gasping for air, the hare finding
nothing to eat yet and all the birds
left behind. There you sit
in the same skirt in which, waters ago,
you boarded the ship, but the dance
has drained from your feet. For once the rain
blew over at last, the water
was lulled mirror-smooth, you saw
your world turned upside down and lower still
any movement stalled for good and
when you took a better look that too
that image stayed with you and how
with each glance your essence
lost more depth. Now you sit,
...
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