Sudden sunset

What shall I compare
The sun to?…
A cheerful Levantine
Set off to the West.
An omnipotent slave
Tied to a gold chariot.
A mythical god
(Bearing the Egyptian name of Ra,
Or the Hellenic – Helios),
Or an everyday producer
Of chlorophyll.
An unfamiliar friend
Who charges me with energy
Free of charge…

What shall I compare
The sun to?…
It has already been compared
To the space horizon.
Sun, sun darling,
Don’t jump behind the ridge!
How shall I endure in the dark
Among so many
Bat-like souls?


A tree and a bird
A pair of fluttering wings
On the thin top of the tree.
The bird seems to be flying,
While in fact
It is
perched there.
A place insecure for rest,
An undulating pier,
But the bird finds support
In the chance dance.
It feels with its claws
The leaves
And the stem,
The incessant sap of the earth,
the deep pulse of the world...
A magic instant,
When
The bird has roots,
And the tree
Has wings.


Translated from Bulgarian by Valentin KRASTEV