CONFESSION OF IGNORANCE

by Mima Kurjakova Belgrade, Serbia I. They tried to explain to me You have no father You have no education You have no money You have no lover They tried to explain to me The bus is full Your hair is dirty I thought of murder But I can't face Crime Or punishment Or testifying For me it is enough To know nothing And it cannot help To pray for those Good or bad Or insane people So I move like graphite Or granite Like stone In the saddle Of a golden-hoofed Stallion My hands held Behind my back Without spurs Knowing nothing II. Did we know what we shared what we had and what we hoped ? Did we know what we shared while we were wondering what there was to share ? And what in the end did we have ? A bird in a box Horns on a plate A loaf wrapped in a belt An aggressive smile Did we cheat each other ? Did we share and share alike ? And what do we have now ? Just the road. [ I repeat to myself: «The Road» ] And a bet [ or a race ] with the sun I pick up the sword and I run To a dead end where the road falls away into space   III. Only the sun understands kissing without touching Only the sun can kiss the world like an infinitely-armed octopus up Shit Creek He and I keep playing hide-and-seek