Charles Simic
Against Whatever It Is That’s Encroaching
Language: english
Translations:
czech (Proti všemu, co se na nás blíží), german (Gegen alles Bedrängende), malay (Menentang Apa Sahaja Yang Semakin Hampir ), portuguese (Contra Toda e Qualquer Intromissão), russian (Против того, что подкрадывается, что бы это ни было), serbian (Protiv bilo čega što prelazi meru), turkish (Sınırı Aşan Her Neyse Ona Karşı), ukrainian (Проти всього, що приходить непрошеним)
Against Whatever It Is That’s Encroaching
Best of all is to be idle,
And especially on a Thursday,
And to sip wine while studying the light:
The way it ages, yellows, turns ashen
And then hesitates forever
On the threshold of the night
That could be bringing the first frost.
It’s good to have a woman around just then,
And two is even better.
Let them whisper to each other
And eye you with a smirk.
Let them roll up their sleeves and unbutton their shirts a bit
As this fine old twilight deserves,
And the small schoolboy
Who has come home to a room almost dark
And now watches wide-eyed
The grownups raise their glasses to him,
The giddy-headed, red-haired woman
With eyes tightly shut,
As if she were about to cry or sing.
