Come spring just like a tiny mouse
the creek skips out and stops a bit
and scampers up from underneath
the ice to run on top of it
squeaks and sniffs and takes a breath
until it seems quite safe to say
at last I’ve broken through the ice
from night into the bright of day
Sets out to meander babbling
ditties at first no one knows
for a moustache mouse-style
sticks a straw beneath the nose
twists and turns but singing still
the same tune he will reappear:
the highest peaks of happiness
are reached by living free of fear
soon it’s buzzed by spry mosquitoes
picked up and blown by the wind
to a scavenger-type gale
that will quickly have it pinned
to every corner of the sky
till there’s nothing else to hear:
the highest peaks of happiness
are reached by living free of fear
border crossing gates are stuck
in up positions and a pair
of storks construct a nest on top
where they can sit and boldly stare
up at the sky and sing the song
that every frog just loves to cheer:
the very heart of happiness
beats in living free of fear
It’s whistled by the power-lines
and the linemen on the poles
by the robins on the line and
the rain that from the gable rolls
it’s blasted by the mountain peaks
and shrieked with full force by the stark
attempt at flight unaided for
the first time by a fledgling lark
As the Sun ignores its route at noon
to hum the little tune oh dear oh dear
the highest peaks of happiness
are reached by living free of fear
and pours its brightness amply so
at least a slender ray can clear
its way to shadowed cracks where life
is still lived in the grip of fear
to places where the soul can only
dream of living free of fear
______________________
©Sándor Kányádi, 2000. Translation Paul Sohar.
From
THE LITTLE GLOBE-TROTTING MOUSE
Holnap
Publishing Co., Budapest
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