Letting the day go by until
it became night and in the fruit bowl
the forgotten tangerine withered
in the distance the city glowed,
igniting on its own
what was alive in icy fields
crawled into cocoons, raised
prickles against the stars
Only the diamond sky-hunters
cutting silently into granite
took us along, struck us off
until morning brought us bread
and words, as birds did twigs
Translation: Willem Groenewegen