Morning Coffee
”Have some coffee, man, a mean cup of coffee” -
this is what I say to spur myself on – “sip it hot, damn hot
with a slice of lemon, bitter and so hot it scalds your throat,
so that it hurts” – test your knife in the morning,
everyone ought to test their knives in the morning -
there is no other way to the lemon’s heart. A nice knife
is sharp, a sharp knife is nice, you need to know how to wield a knife
so that it hurts – what stays in mind is always the cut, open
wounds and horizons, being scared of the dark, or the acute
fear of being alone – but I sit and write and let no one near me,
for I was everywhere with everyone and then returned
to my own country, city, street, to my room and in its corner,
cowering in anger in the lamplight to write, I write…
Janis Elsbergs, translated by Peteris Cedrins
Publicado em 27 de Abril de 2012