My uneasiness beats day and night against the shores.
I’m a faithful sheepdog, thankful I can lick your heels,
And like a bothersome being, I flatter, rage, threaten
Though I know only death shall gather all your roses.
There’s no security, even here the serpent’s eye is watching;
Death in the sun, in the softly blue sea,
In the villages’ lagoon-filled silence, in the velvet of mountain snows,
The dictator’s shadow, at every step, appears.
I know a shore of thirsty sand for my waves of kisses.
Don’t become a pampered thing, open up, be close.
Let’s love again and again beneath the poisonous tree,
Let’s leave for death only the bones worn away with love.
Abkhazia, July 1989
Translated by Viera ve James Sutherland-Smith