Islands
“Dawn urges us to sail out and visit the gods
across the widening blue seas,
but firm anchors hold us down.
We, who were at one time free boats,
like that sail of constellations of those far off,
have now been rooted motionless in the depth of the earth.
And we remember the moist shroud
which is cherished by us in tender captivity,
like a slender airy wave.
Once our whole camp sailed out, like semi-precious stones,
or an assembly of stars. Then the heavenly ocean
seemed lit up from within, now it has grown heavy.”
Thus do the imprisoned long for the islands …
You that same story recalled, Words,
living gods beneath the yoke of days,
alighted on the chest of the damp earth. They come
from the heavens, where once you enjoyed watching
the living rays, the winged swarm of stars, at play.
Translated by Belinda Cooke
Page(s) 78
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