NAD PORTRÉTOM DVORNEJ DÁMY

Medzi tebou a mnou
niekoľko zanedbateľných storočí
povieva v okne ako záclona.
Sú: diván, kreslá, svietniky na stoloch,
obrazy v ťažkých rámoch, vázy
a chodba, ktorou si v takýto slnečný deň
prešla, celkom samozrejme,
akoby sa toto nikdy nemalo skončiť.
Nepoľujem na prízraky, iba čakám,
kedy cez jemnú pleť plátna
presvitneš hlbšie do miestnosti.   
Za oknami zapadá slnko a lupeň po lupeni
sa ruže i tvoja tvár zatvárajú do nevinnosti
na sklonku leta, tesne predtým,
ako farby na obraze a vône zo záhrad
vsiaknu do tvojej pomalej 11-ročnej krvi…
Nikdy neprejdem tú cestu,
ktorou sa zemeguľa prekotúľala
od teba až ku mne.
A keď vychádzaš z dverí, niet ma,
iba oči mi vlhnú tvojimi slzami.

© Michal Habaj
From: Básne pre mŕtve dievčatá
Audio production: Ars Poetica

OVER A PORTRAIT OF A NOBLE LADY

Between me and you
a few negligible centuries
flutter like a curtain in a window.
Here they are: a divan, chairs, candlesticks on the tables,
paintings in thick frames, vases
and a corridor that you walked through on
a sunny day like this, quite at ease,
as if this were never to come to a close.
I do not hunt for specters, only wait
for you to glisten deeper into the room
through the fine fabric complexion of the screen.
Beyond the windows the sun sets and petal by petal,
the roses and your face withdraw into innocence
at the close of summer, just before
colors of the paintings and odors of the gardens
can soak into your gracious 11-year-old blood...
I can never walk the road
that the Earth rolled over
all the way from you to me.
When the time comes for you to move on, I am gone,
and it is your tears that wet my eyes.

English Translation from Martin Solotruk