In The Garden Of The Unknown Soldier

Translated by Stephen Watts and Marga Burgui-Artajo

The soldier who that morning forgot
to shave his hair
and was punished for it by his Sergeant,
the soldier left fallen in the dust of battle,
the beautiful soldier, with his thick beard
that got to grow
little by little
until - after ten years - it was a forest
of tangled bush,
such that nightingales sang in his branches
and children always played on his swings
and lovers came closer in his shade
............
...................
That soldier ...
who grew into a park for the whole town,
what if that day he'd shaven his head ...

Amman 28th September 1993