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

Ii placea lumina amiezei tarzii ce palea
In incapere, si nu aprindea el insusi lumina
Pana ce nu trecea bine de opt seara.
Nevasta protesta, il facea posac, dar el
Nu era un caz de melancolie; ii placea doar
Felul in care aratau lucrurile in aerul ce se intuneca
Putin cate putin, pe nesimtite pana ce parea
Insusi elementul in care vietuim. Orice barbat
Ori femeie merita o clipa adevarata de maretie
Si-aceasta era a lui, acest interior olandez, invadat
Si cucerit, atat de linistit si totusi atat de coplesit
De detalii: vestmintele celor doi imprastiate
Pe spatarele fotoliilor, cainele la vanatoare de papuci,
Fereastra larg deschisa, lumina amiezei tarzii.
 

Traducere: Ileana Botescu-Sireteanu