The Window of Death Poem by Tomaž Šalamun

To stop the blood of flowers and to reverse harmony.
To die in the river, to die in the river.
To hear the heart of a rat. There is no difference
between the silver of the moon and the silver of my tribe.

To clear the field and to run to the edge of the earth.
To bear a crystal in the chest: the word. Soap
evaporates at the door, fire illuminates the day.
To look back, to look back one more time.

And to remove the robe. The poppy has bitten the sky.
To walk empty roads and drink shadows.
To feel the oak at the mouth of the well.

To stop the blood of flowers, to stop the blood of flowers.
Altars watch each other face to face.
To lie down on a blue cabbage.

TRANSLATED BY BRIAN HENRY