GROUP

by Marin Sorescu


They have been living for a long time together
and have begun to repeat themselves:
he was she,
and she was he,
she was she
and he was she, too,
she was or wasn't,
and he was both of them,
or something like that.


Especially in the morning,
till they managed to realize
who was which,
whence and how far, why this way and not otherwise,
a lot of time was passing,
the time was passing smoothly.


Sometimes they wanted to kiss,
but, suddenly, they realized
that both of them were she,
easier to repeat.


Then, out of fright, they began to yawn,
a soft, wooly yawn,
which could be knitted
as follows:
one of them was yawning very attentively
and the other was keeping the yawnball.



(Translated from Romanian by Brigitta Daniela Buda)