Gone the Window And Through it the Poor Sabbath Guest, the Cherry Tree
by Abraham SutzkeverGone the window and through it the poor Sabbath guest, the cherry tree,
who came to stay the night with me along its journey.
Gone the cherry tree made of stars, they have all been stolen
by cosmic thieves.
This drilled hole has only left me as a vestige
a token amount of heavenly air, which had come in through that window,
brilliant
and four-sided.
That token of heavenly air, which had drifted in through that window
has been stolen by no one, nor shot to pieces.
The vision of my life owns a spacious home
inside four slender, slender lines.
And the greatest wonder of all: the cherry tree drifts in
to spend the night with me as it did then, that guest,
and the cherry tree made of stars, too, finds its way inside
through those same sweet slender, slender lines.
translated from Yiddish by Maia Evrona