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Nightfall
Sleep now. The stone is asleep. Sleeping, too, the waters.
Behind the hills of your brows
and the quick-flashing fish of your eyes,
the sun is setting.
Sleep now. The stone is asleep. Sleeping, too, the waters.
On the smoky beam of your thoughts
as on the benches in a rural cottage
lie the well-worn toys of the day.
Sleep now. The stone is asleep. Sleeping, too, the waters.
Above the apple tree of your dreams,
above the bright-trembling apple tree—,
the stars of dawn.
Aco Šopov, Not-Being, 1963
Translated by Rawley Grau and Christina E. Kramer, 2022