IN A TORCHED VILLAGE Poem by Edvard Kocbek

I lean on the wall
still hot
from a long fire,
no villagers
no foe around,
the ground gives way,
the universe crumbles,
the stars perish.
A sudden ripple
of the scent of violets.
I begin to listen
to tender voices,
the grass rising
for new footsteps,
the ashes embracing
a new solidity.
A brook clatters
into a stone trough
a cat returns
to a scorched doorstep.
I grow larger
become a giant,
now I see over
the shoulder of all horror.