Czar

vast the waiting for everything
for the sea the west conceals and reveals
for the gentle arms of the pale shore
of the sea foam
for the fragrance of lavender
for the meadows and violets
for the lady of the dream with hands of lilies
and jasmine arms
perfumed by the dark night’s chill


immortal is the czar of time
like a samurai hidden in the invisible
flying over our brittle corpses
vocabularies pour from his mouth
in the shape of mountains and streams
in our spirits
the ache of is and exists throbs
in our spirits
nothing brings silence or sleep
and finally
a strange nothing beckons behind things


meanwhile take in the dawns
and the wind
and the gold summer sows across the fields
and the words of March announcing green leaves
take in the dark water of the forest’s rivers
flowing over white sand
take in, brother, what there is of the eternal


because waiting for mankind is vast

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About this poem

Author	Narlan Matos
Translator	Michael Palmer
Language	English
Translated	2012

This translation has not yet appeared in print and is reproduced with permission.