The Carousel Of Life - Životna Vrteška Poem by Jankovic Zoran

We were children.
I never wrote a letter to you.
Here, I am writing to you now:

I am sorry that
I met you so early.
I was a boy whom
life had not yet spoiled.

I am sorry that you
married so early.
It would have been
better for you to be
my girl later on,
when I became spoiled.

I would have taught you
that life is not a flat
and well-trodden path.
It is not an aligned
road of the plains
with three layers of asphalt.

Life is an eternal carousel,
a sharp Bosnian cobblestone
or the scorching dust of the road
leading to the old-age farmstead,
which we walk with bare feet.

Today you would be
stronger in your soul,
and today you would
remember me as
the rascal who stole
your dreams that day.

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Životna vrteška

Bili smo djeca i nikad
ti nisam napisao pismo.
Evo sad ti pišem:

Žao mi je što sam
te rano upoznao.
Bio sam dječak koga
život nije bio pokvario.

Žao mi je što si se
ti tako rano udala.
Bilo bi ti bolje da si
mi bila cura kasnije
kad sam postao pokvaren.

Naučio bih te da život
nije ravan i utaban put.
Nije to ušorena
vojvođanska džada
sa tri sloja asvalta.

Život je vječita vrteška,
bosanska kaldrma oštra
ili vrela prašina puta
prema salašu starosti
kojom idemo bosih nogu.

Danas bi bila jača u duši
a mene bi se danas sjećala
kao mangupa koji ti je
onomad ukrao snove.