I discovered your footprints in the sand and to get there sooner
I ran legs sinking at the knees, and fell from exhaustion,
and when I climbed the hill – in astonishment I was calling,
as if I’d seen you for the first time on that unforgettable evening.
You filled the entire horizon, for then you seemed enormous,
with hair in the clouds, feet on the shore.
And you saw me and reached for me –
as if you sought to embrace the universe – everything …
Listen to my heartbeat, see the tears in my eyes
and remember – no one has ever embraced me like this,
nor have I embraced anyone ever- like this.
And if at this moment my joy lowers the scales
and God wants to shorten the thread of my days,
I shall extend my arm to Him asking for supreme grace.
1927, Elisaveta Bagranya, Trans Belin Tonchev.
from Elisvatea Bagyrana , Penelope Of the Twentieth Century. Publ. Forest Books 1993.
Chris Murray 