THE BEGINNING

Some kid right in front of me,

and I was watching from my balcony,

peeled all the bark

off the walnut

tree,

and left whistling:

”Time is on my side”…

Aha, I say to myself:

This one will do it again

(maybe even worse),

and if he gets caught – he’ll swear

falsely.

That one would coldly

kick a dog,

and a small child,

in passing,

he would hit – for fun.

And when he grows up,

Maybe he too will go into politics…

form some party

(for which,

people like him,

will all vote

at the elections)…

People, who say

that trees

don’t talk?!

Then who told me

this story about the beginning of another war?

Translated by Ulvija Tanović