Chrysogonus' Translation #71 - from Kevin Brophy's "Morning Preparation"

Persiapan Pagi Hari

Kau menyapu beranda bagi mereka.

Kau menaruh banyak hadiah di kotak .

Kau memasang alphabet yang baru

dan menyapu lantai lagi.

Kau memeriksa kartu katamu

selagi burung gagak

yang duduk di luar berbicara sendiri

tentang ciptaan, musim, kumbang

dan remah yang ia sangka dijanjikan

anak-anak baginya tiap hari.

Kau meraut pensil

dan mengganti buku-buku bacaan

di dalam kotaknya ketika sang gagak

tertawa akan sesuatu yang ia katakan

pada dirinya di pohon, pohon melebar

bayang gelap dan keberadaannya.

Kau memberi mereka permainan kata.

Kau membalik sampul-sampul buku

ke arah mereka, berharap mereka

akan bersandar dan mengambil dan melihat

lalu ingin membaca sementara sang gagak

melanjutkan ceritanya tentang barang

hilang, yang berwarna biru

dan ingatannya akan rasa susu.

You swept the verandah for them.

You put more prizes in the prize box.

You displayed a new alphabet 

and swept the floor again.

You checked your word cards 

and all the while the crow 

sat outside talking to itself 

about creation, seasons, beetles

and crusts it thought the children 

had promised to leave behind each day. 

You sharpened pencils 

and replaced the reading books

in their boxes while the crow

laughed at something it had just said 

to itself in the tree, the tree stirring 

with its dark and solid presence. 

You put out a word game for them. 

You faced some book covers 

outwards for them, hoping they would

lean in and take one and look through it 

and want to read it while the crow 

went on with a story of lost

baubles, mainly blue things,

and its memory of the taste of milk.