ANNE STEWART

And the Boat upon the Water

Why do you come to me in dreams, Katerina?
In dreams of your mother dying?

Why do my sisters bustle so, with kitchen things,
so absently, forgetful of their children?

What has been lost, Katerina,
that brings such people back to me?

I sense a coming dark, my love,
as though a dark friend comes for me.

Sleep may come and dreams may come
and their reasons come no clearer.

Yet why do I hear, in those busy dreams,
the slip of a boat to water?

At home, the salmon claw, Katerina,
claw upstream, through day and night.

Come to me here and now, Katerina,
in the fireflies’ dying light.

Alexandra Sarbu

Anne Stewart
 

Si barca pe apa
 

De ce imi apari in vise, Katerina?
In visele cu mama ta ce moare?

De ce surorile mele forfotesc asa, prin bucatarie,
atat de absent, uitand de copiii lor?

Ce s-a pierdut, Katerina,
de vin asemenea oameni inapoi la mine?

Simt o intunecare, draga mea,
ca si cum un prieten intunecat ar veni dupa mine.

Somnul ar putea sa vina si vise ar putea sa vina
si motivele lor mai clare sa devina.

Totusi de ce aud, in acele vise agitate,
aluneacarea unei barci pe apa?

Acasa, gheara somonului, Katerina,
racaie in susul raului, noapte si zi.

Vino la mine aici si acum, Katerina,
in lumina murinda a licuricilor.