Spring lies desolate.
The velvet-dark ditch
crawls by my side
without reflections.
The only thing that shines
is yellow flowers.
I am carried in my shadow
like a violin in its black case.
The only thing I want to say
glitters out of reach
like the silver in a pawnbroker's.
Tomas Transtroemer
1931
translated by Robin Fulton
Tomas Transtroemer is a Swedish poet, writer and translator who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011.
