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Taras Melnychuk
2
the cranes are dismayed
they woke up too soon
all the same Prince Danylo
isn’t getting married yet
(his sons
have yet to return
from Afghanistan)
it’s still really early
(not everyone is wounded yet)
animals in the forest
and people in their homes
(in Ukraine)
still want to sleep
and there’s ice on the lake
and a skiff on a bulldozer
and death in the thickets
and God in heaven
and smoked wild boar
on a spit
the cranes are dismayed
but there’s no need
to be
by the pattern of the road
whoever sleeps –
sleeps
but whoever –
has legs