DAVID LEHMAN
Dutch Interior

He liked the late afternoon light as it dimmed
In the living room, and wouldn't switch on
The electric lights until past eight o'clock.
His wife complained, called him cheerless, but
It wasn't a case of melancholy; he just liked
The way things looked in air growing darker
So gradually and imperceptibly that it seemed
The very element in which we live. Every man
And woman deserves one true moment of greatness
And this was his, this Dutch interior, entered
And possessed, so tranquil and yet so busy
With details: the couple's shed clothes scattered
On the backs of armchairs, the dog chasing a shoe,
The wide open window, the late afternoon light.

(1991)
from Valentine Place by David Lehman (Scribner, 1996)

DAVID LEHMAN
Interior olandez

Lui ii placea sa vada cum scade lumina dupa-amiezii tarzii
In camera de zi, si nu aprindea
Lumina electrica pina dupa opt.
Nevasta i se plingea, il facea ‘posac’
Numai ca acesta nu era un simplu caz de melancolie;
Lui, pur si simplu, ii placea
Felul in care arata lumea in aerul ce se intuneca
Asa, gradat, pe nesimtite, incit parea
Chiar elementul in care vietuim. Orice barbat,
Femeie, merita un moment adevarat de maretie
Iar asta ii apartinea doar lui, acest interior olandez, patruns
Si posedat, asa de linistit si, totusi, atit de incarcat
De amanunte: salopetele celor doi imprastiate
Pe spatarele fotoliilor, ciinele fugarind un pantof,
Fereastra larg deschisa, lumina unei dupa-amiezi tirzii.

 

Traducere: Cristina Nistor