“Zamolxe’s Fireflies” (for a.v.) english translation

Neither linden leave nor the

perfume of shadows misted by

scattered caresses, did you reveal without wanting to,

but rather longings not yet ripened,

whose buds I alone know to break.

I resolve, thus to make peace with my

dacian spirit, to guide me steadily, with eyes

aimed passionately toward proud and

worthy verse, that I might

tell what befell me during a song of the panpipe

Unintentionally did I there recognize

emotion worked in clay, like pieces nested in

the breast of a bitter country,

like yearnings hidden yet again in

your eyes that sparkled with dreams

and smiles,

emotion written as though with tears from a

wellspring upon the

wrinkles at the corners of your eyes,

and in the lines of heated whispers

on your face that glows slowly like

sour cherries in a bottle.

And then, to drink with my heart,

the sweet speech of your words

That I may tune my wandering

spirit with yours, of black honey.

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