ZORAN STOJIĆEVIĆ RIKARDO
SZEBE
THE LOSS OF A FATHER
The wage-earners return home
Without their leader.
Mother ties on a black scarf,
Brothers and sisters weep.
Embers in the hearth, but no flames.
The old house is cracked,
The barrel in the cellar has dried up
An empty bottle peeps from the pocket
Of a coat on the hook.
Thunder has torn the sky apart
Dark rain has dug up the earth
Wet crows caw beneath the roof.
A dog on a chain barks
Weeds have filled the garden.
The horses, their manes intertwined, are rearing
And they unable to pull the cart
The whip is hanging on the nail.
The cattle don’t low in the pen
Today they are not hungry.
Wailing reverberates through the rain-soaked surroundings.
(Translated by: Timothy Byford)
