[Kätzchen]

A Song On The End Of The World

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover
a fishermen mends a glimmering net
Happy porpoises jump in the sea
By the rain spout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends
Women walk through fields under umbrellas
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of the lawn
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow sailed boat comes nearer the island
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightening and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangel's trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and moon are above
As long as a bumblebee visits a rose
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he's much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:

No other end to the world will there be,
No other end to the world will there be.

-- Czeslaw Milösz --