iz serije Kepa pepela /from series Lump of ashes

Dolgo nosiš ogenj v ustih, / dolgo ga skrivaš, / za koščenim plotom zob, / med belim risom ustnic ga stiskaš. // Veš, da ne sme nobeden zavohati dima iz tvojih ust, / spominjaš se, da vrane ubijejo belo vrano, / zato zakleneš usta in skriješ ključ. // Ampak nekoč začutiš v ustih besedo, / votlina glave ti odmeva od nje, / takrat začneš iskati ključ svojih ust. // Dolgo ga iščeš, / ko ga najdeš, odkleneš lišaj s svojih ustnic, / odkleneš rjo svojih zob, / potem iščeš jezik, ampak jezika ni, / potem hočeš izreči besedo, / ampak usta so polna pepela, / in namesto besede se skotali kepa pepela med saje v tvoje grlo, / zato odvržeš zarjaveli ključ, / potem si narediš nov jezik iz zemlje, / jezik, ki govori besede iz prsti.

Kepa pepela, Dane Zajc

For a long time you carried fire in your mouth. / For a long time you hid it there. / Behind a bony fence of teeth. / Pressed within the white magic circle of your lips. // You know that no one must catch scent / of the smoke in your mouth. / You remember that black crows will kill a white one. / So you lock your mouth. / And hide the key. // But then you feel a word in your mouth. / It echoes in the cavern of your head. // You begin to search for the key to your mouth. / You search for a long time. / When you find it, you unlock the lichen from your lips. / You unlock the rust from your teeth. / Then you search for your tongue. / But it isn’t there. / You want to utter a word. / But your mouth is full of ashes. // And instead of a word / a lump of ashes rolls down / your blackened throat. / So you throw away the rusty key. // And you make a new language from the soil. / A tongue that speaks with words of clay.

Lump of Ashes, Dane Zajc
translated by Erica Johnson Debeljak