Little Room

A little room is a magic box

Life that disappeared into a mirror

Reveals itself again

A great many concealed thoughts

The disheveled portion of a life

Which proliferates and spreads at night

Like a miasma from under damp straw

Upon returning to the room

Sunlight is kept out at the threshold

The fogged mirror shows human lassitude

Upon returning to the room

Soft-bodied animals

Probe with feelers into recesses

Hard plates of the carapace are slowly retracted

Releasing the beast

Within the body   reveling in exchange of scents

But people walking outside make sure   they are seen as humans

Out on the avenue   they bask in wonderful sunshine

The huge greenhouse of sky   is everyone’s ideal definition

Of their true room

Written on 26th of February, 1996

Translated by Denis Mair