ENCLOSED GARDEN
To better gaze upon the night,
I am standing on the shore of my life.
Oh, how many captive stars!
To better gaze upon the night,
I am standing next to the sleeping water.
Oh, how many captive stars!
To better gaze upon the night,
I am standing with my back to the wind.
Oh, how many captive stars!
To better gaze upon the night,
I am standing at the foot of a smile.
Oh, how many captive stars!
(Oh, how many captive stars
at the bottom of my wound!
Oh, how many captive stars
crowning my death throes!...)
To better gaze upon the night,
I am dreaming beside the sleeping water.
Oh, how many stars on the shore!...
To better feel the night
I am going to pull its backbone from the fountain.
Oh, how many departed stars!
...............................................
(Silence stirs the branches...
A jasmine falls onto the water...
Oh, how many stars in my soul!)
To better gaze upon the night,
I am going to sleep on the shores of Nothing.
Emilio Prados
Translation by Donald Wellman