Once there was a shock <br />that left behind a long, shimmering comet tail. <br />It keeps us inside. It makes the TV pictures snowy. <br />It settles in cold drops on the telephone wires. <br /> <br />One can still go slowly on skis in the winter sun <br />through brush where a few leaves hang on. <br />They resemble pages torn from old telephone directories. <br />Names swallowed by the cold. <br /> <br />It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat <br />but often the shadow seems more real than the body. <br />The samurai looks insignificant <br />beside his armor of black dragon scales. <br /> <br /> <br />translated by Robert Bly<br /><br />Tomas Tranströmer<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/after-a-death/
