I am who I am. A coincidence no less unthinkable than any other. - Wisława Szymborska

Prva ljubav

Kažu,
da je prva ljubav najvažnija.
Veoma romantično,
ali ne u mom slučaju.

Nešto je među nama bilo, i nije bilo,
dogodilo se i zagubilo.

Ne drhte mi ruke,
kad naiđem na sitne uspomene
i svežanj pisama povezan kanapčićem
- iako bi bilo bolje da je mašnicom.

Naš jedini susret, posle mnogo godina,
bio je razgovor dveju stolica
za hladnim stočićem.

Druge ljubavi,
sve dosad, duboko dišu u meni.
Ovoj nedostaje dah da bi uzdahnula.

Međutim, upravo takva kakva je,
uspeva, što ostalim još uvek, ne uspeva:
da me neupamćena,
čak nesanjana,
miri sa smrću.

The buzzard has nothing to fault himself with.
Scruples are alien to the black panther.
Piranhas do not doubt the rightness of their actions.
The rattlesnake approves of himself without reservations.

The self-critical jackal does not exist.
The locust, alligator, trichina, horsefly
live as they live and are glad of it.

The killer whale's heart weighs one hundred kilos
but in other respects it is light.

There is nothing more animal-like
than a clear conscience
on the third planet of the Sun.

But in the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it.