Zahrad - THE CROW THE BAT THE MONKEY THE DOVE

THE CROW

To try less
To know and perceive less
Only to learn
that if you climb up this steep hill
on the way back
your descent will be calmer still and easier

I am not the one saying this but an old black crow
that landed on my way one morning


THE BAT

While screaming “arrest them!
Catch them!” A crafty bat yells
a warning
at the words around him
to run and get away!

and the poem
is left half finished –
unable to reach you


MONKEY

You are the monkey
Supposedly you ape us –
You illicit forebear!
Who is aping whom?


THE DOVE

If words were to lack
bit by bit
I dampen old canvasses
I mend them
I collect – and dispatch
the words
to the oldest
deluge
the last dove
of which
has not returned yet

Should words be left over
I rekindle
I plan – I feed
with words
the foremother of birds
the dove of the deluge

And words cease to be words
They turn to dove


Poem by ZAHRAD
Translated by Tatul Sonentz