In May

After spending a night,

Sleepless they go

Outside to face

The veiled morning lift.

 

They drag their feet

Through the streets,

Over the bridges,

Onto the wet sand.

 

They strip, one by one;

Leaving all behind

To the wind,

They walk into the raging sea.

 

It hit them

Beat them across

Their naked bodies

Numb.
They feel nothing.

The first phrase of the sun

Comes cold

Burning them.

 

Pushed

Out of the sea

They crawl

Onto the shore.

 

A wet embrace

Finds them quivering for heat;

Dead blue lips, stinging

In May.

 


Poem by Fidan Gasimova

Translated by Vera Linder

Read in Italian:

In Maggio