SILENCE

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The village is enveloped in snow,
an infinite silence...
The tolling of the bell
remembering a saint,
makes it even thicker.
A cosmic silence.
As if humanity is lost in heaven...
though streaks of smoke
are coming out of chimneys.
They seem to keep
the old balloon of mother Earth
from taking off.

Let's hope a naughty kid,
armed with an atomic needle
doesn't prick a hole in it.
If so, the old balloon
will burst to pieces
before we holler 'nough.
And then, the horrid silence
will follow the parade
of primal species.

© Maxim Maximov
© Bojidara Pavlova, translated from Bulgarian
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© LiterNet Publishing House, 23.02.2021
Maxim Maximov. Bravado. Varna: LiterNet, 2021

Other publications:
Maxim Maximov. Bravado. Los Angeles: Triumvirate Publications, 1999.