TRANCE

by Marin Sorescu


I'm burning.
Blow, blow some inspiration onto me, you, too,
Because, look, mine is squandering above me,
Preparing haloes
For the future's more pure foreheads.


You look like a Byzantine frescoe,
Twice stylized
(The second time stylized especially for me,
I've told the artisans how to do it),
Because you have circles instead of eyes.
I can already feel the coolness of your eyes' darkness,
and that makes me feel good
When I burn industrially, great flame,
At the entrance into trance.



(Translated from Romanian by Brigitta Daniela Buda)