Winter (1970)
So God has once again blessed us with winter
With a few impoverished people and abject animals
That will die in it.
The broken glass of puddles
The milky astonishment of faces
In the descending gloom
Where everything must be just so
And so God will soon bless us with a New Year
In it spring, summer, fall
Will the wheat grow thick enough
Or the potatoes fat enough for our mouths?
For whom will they sing the requiem?
Don't let it be me!
How many troubles you bless us with, Lord
How many miserable graces
An overstuffed sack
Tell me Lord tell me
Why is wisdom
Forever scorned by us
Translated from the Slovak by Peter Barecz and Tom Nicholson
She's a vegetarian, a keen gardener and a published poet, a socialist who directs a free-market economy. She's Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová.
Author: Brigita Schmognerová
