He had one heart And an eagle Waited On a far hill ... Sweep the house, sow wheat But Do not feed birds in its presence To keep it hungry – with his hooked beak – Perhaps a new heart will grow In that torn chest in the mountains. ... The Lord taught me How to go With a stiff upper lip I climb, Clean his spectacles with the hem of my dress To be seen from afar By the eagle With its keen eyesight I measure the red threads of blood Coming down to the feet Shortly I will weave them into something warm As it is cold up there. ... I have no sympathy with the thief Who angered the sun I am eager to fulfil its will Carefully With my scalpel I remove tissue growing near the wound. Then Check the locks And the solidity of the shackles on his wrists As provisioned by the punishment ... Iron does not cheat Deep in the earth it learned That knowledge belongs to God Obediently it proceeded – after blacksmiths had forged it to many shapes – to execute the punishment ... He was disillusioned! He was not received with one single clap As he had expected From those staring upwards ... They, In their ignorance, Snatched the stolen torch from his hand, Put it out in straw, And apologized to heaven ... Every day he will grow a new heart So much is certain – Greeks do not lie – Not because ignorance is part of mankind As long as they fail to be gods And not because I hate him so much That I do not look At the white dress in my wardrobe – Before going to sleep at night – Because, Up till now It did not teach me, An overseas absent man’s wife, How to undo my spinning at night As the loom is about to finish Moreover, I do not like red. __________ Translated by Kees Nijland