Žeja

Vsaka steklenica me uči
Ponižnosti. Če sam Stvarnik
Se pomanjšal je na polič,
Kako neznatna kapljica sem šele jaz?

Srkam njegovo omamno skrivnost.
Skozi usta vstopa vame
In me dela večjega
In bolj zgovornega.

Večji sem, ker je v meni
On, ki je vse.
Vpijem, saj skozme
On vse izreka.

Vsaka, prav vsaka steklenica
Me uči ponižnosti.
Oh, naj se ta sladka šola
Nikoli ne konča.

Če se pa Učitelj moj
Kdaj zadrži ali celo umanjka,
Si Njegove ponižnosti
Z veseljem sam dolijem.

Translation by Brian Henry

English translation from the Slovenian by Brian Henry

Every bottle teaches me
Humility. If even the creator
Is reduced by the carafe,
How fine a drop am I?

I sip his intoxicating mystery.
It enters through my mouth
And makes me larger
And more eloquent.

I am larger, because he
Who is everything is in me.
I shout because he is conveying
Everything through me.

Each and every bottle
Teaches me humility.
Oh, let this sweet lesson
Never end.

And if my teacher sometimes restrains
Himself or is missing entirely,
I myself happily refill
His humility.

Audio

Thirst (Brian Henry)

About This Poet:

Aleš Šteger

Aleš Šteger was born in Pluj, Slovenia, in 1973. A poet and prose writer, he is now based in Ljubljana. His work has been widely translated and appeared in the New Yorker, Boston Review, Süddeutsche Zeitung and many other publications. In 2016 he was awarded the International Bienek Prize for… Read More