Milena Merlak
ASHES IN THE EYES
I.
The rose-colored fire
of the setting sun
is pierced by a black arrow
as it falls into the abyss
between the mountains.
Light expires
in the violet incense of night.
Blood-colored clouds
encircle the orange heavens
like shrieking vultures.
Extinction casts ashes in the eyes.
II.
We've lost the orange sky.
Night is the enemy
that carries the sun's ashes,
the dead heart of day,
in its black breast.
The vestal virgin of eternal fire
crumbles to dust
in front of the dead sun.
Night has no living torch
with which it could wake
the dead goddess of life.
Translated from Slovenian by Herbert Kuhner