To One I Love So Well
‘The sea
is as deep, there is as much water in
the
sea, in a
calm, as in a
storm’
John Donne
Smile, my delicious
angel,
Your day is suspended between the
gold of the dawn
And the river of love flowing from my
hands.
So white and delicate, so sparkling
and clear
Is your skin like the virgin snow of
the Caucasus
Torn by the fervour of spring
streams.
‘Night words
are like butter,
As soon as the sun rises, they melt’ you say
In your smiling sea-blue
voice,
Sweet as the air full of
terebinth.
I know your body,
Traversed by galaxies of
stars,
So different from
mine.
I know your soul’s frontier is
infinity.
Ah, my angel scented with sweet
briar
And Nubian saffron,
Come,
Lean over my face,
Heal my soul with your glittering
look,
You who have the Lord in your
eyes,
You, my only homeland, my
roots.
Ah, my angel of white water
lilies,
Erase from the scarred tablets of my
heart
All the wounded words save one:
Love.
Do it, my angel,
So that I may become in one fell
swoop
Intelligence,
Conciliation
And indulgence!
Translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de
Thracy
September 2012
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