World Poetry Translation Project

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Statuary
by Nick Flynn

Bees may be trusted, always,
to discover the best, nay, the only

human, solution. Let me cite

an instance; an event, that,

though occurring in nature, is still
in itself wholly abnormal. I refer

to the manner in which the bees

will dispose of a mouse
or a slug

that may happen to have found its way
into the hive.

The intruder killed,

they have to deal with
the body,

which will very soon poison

their dwelling. If it be impossible

for them to expel or dismember it,
they will proceed methodically

& hermetically

to enclose it in a veritable sepulcher
of propolis & wax,

which will tower fantastically

above the ordinary monuments
of the city.

*

When we die
our bodies powder, our bodies

the vessel & the vessel
empties.

Our dying does not fill
the hive with the stench

of dying. But outside
the world hungers.

A cockroach, stung,
can be dragged back out.

A careless child

forced a snail inside with a stick once.
We waxed over the orifice of its shell

sealing the creature in. And here,

the bottom of the comb,
a mouse,
driven in by winter & lack.

Its pawing woke us. We stung it

dead.

Even before it died it reeked - worse
the moment it ceased
twitching.

Now everyday
we crawl over it
to pass outside,

the wax form of what was

staring out, its airless sleep,

the mouse we built
to warn the rest from us.

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Translations for this Poem

English	Spanish	French	German
Italian	Portuguese	Korean	Russian
Chinese	Japanese


	Poems by Nick Flynn Alan Dugan Telling Me I Have A Problem Amber Bag Of Mice Cartoon Physics Part 1 Embrace Noir Emptying Town Statuary Twenty-Pound Stone You Asked How formerly Even Now She Is


	A B C D E F G H I J K L MNO P R S T V W Y [ALL]


	Naomi Shihab Nye


	Nazim Hikmet


	Nick Flynn


	Nizar Qabbani


	Norman Dubie


	Volunteers needed to translate poetry into different languages. Please help us correct the translation of these poems. We currently have 79,663 translations and are trying to create the largest and most accurate database of world poetry translations. We have started with machine translations which are very inaccurate. Please translate your favorite poem on this site. You will be given credit for your translation and a link to your site if desired. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: These poems have been gathered and submitted by many of people, and from many sources. Most have no copyright. However, some may may have copyrights. We have tried to collect poems that appear on many external sites where the author seems to want to disseminate. If you are an author and do not want your poetry translated into other languages then send a removal request and it will be promptly removed.

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