It pains me to see an old woman fret over
A few small coins outside a grocery store—

Bad luck, my very own, sit down and listen to me:
You make yourself scarce for months at the time

We played war during the war,
Margaret. Toy soldiers were in demand,

Just before the war, a foreign film crew burst into Ruža’s village
and turned the country idyll into chaos: prefabricated shacks
appeared, houses were quickly painted and skilled foreigners

And of course, Philemon, who’s about to die
      laughing
At the sight of an ass eating figs.

Circle of suffering,
Of madness.

The name of a girl I once loved
Flew off the tip of my tongue
In the street today,

I rattled off the dates
of wars and revolutions.
I rejoiced

on the watch-chain
of our insomnia
it sits howling

At the beginning of the war, the streets resembled a promenade
of the most beautiful dogs, abandoned by their masters
who had run away from the burning town. Behind them remained