Inscriptions Cain Read in Abel’s Eyes

Silvina Ocampo

trans. Jason Weiss

We were the first two brothers,
I the first dead man and you the first
fratricide. The summers will pass.
The moon will wane unnoticed,
but never will my memory in you.
Like a hybrid star in the sky
I’ll always follow you. I don’t lose my way.
Sleep cannot veil
my portrait, full of love
and cherubs. Like a green fly
that returns, like an error,
like a viper coiling,
you will see me; others will not.
I shall be the world’s first ghost.
You will not fear the lions nor the colts,
nor your wanderer’s fatigue,
nor the storms, nor eclipses,
nor our mother always teaching me
how to draw ellipses with branches.
You will fear me only, hating me.

(src)