SIENNA

My dear friend Norton Hodges, one of the greatest English poets today, translated my poem "Sienne":

Sienna

The bells of a church in Sienna
early in the morningand
suddenly
the limitless depths of God's presence
in my throat,

in my fingers
a dizzying tenderness
for the terrible fate of Christ, nailed to a wall!

Light that beats against my temples
once more and always,

Light!

translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de Thracy by Norton Hodges
14.07.08.