Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Giovanni Quessep

On the way to Damascus

Where will it be the scale that goes to heaven ?
- you ask -, while the moths fall  
in the tapestry of the temple.  
Somebody knew it. In the Sacred Book
the four winged angels go down  
and then up the steps; but a man  
that  fought until the fall of dawn  
with the dragon of Babylonian eyes  
still fights in vain, and only in the day of the Last Judgment  
he will know if it was a dream,  
or if he was delirious, amidst the angels,  
as Paul on his way to Damascus.

En el camino de Damasco

En el camino de Damasco

¿Dónde estará la escala que va al cielo?
-preguntas-, mientras caen
en el tapiz del templo las polillas.
Alguien lo supo. En el Sagrado Libro
bajan los ángeles de cuatro alas
y suben los peldaños; pero un hombre
que luchó hasta caer la madrugada
con el dragón de ojos babilonios
aún lucha en vano, y sólo el día del juicio
sabrá si era un sueño,
o deliraba, en medio de los ángeles,
como Pablo cuando iba hacia Damasco.
Close

On the way to Damascus

Where will it be the scale that goes to heaven ?
- you ask -, while the moths fall  
in the tapestry of the temple.  
Somebody knew it. In the Sacred Book
the four winged angels go down  
and then up the steps; but a man  
that  fought until the fall of dawn  
with the dragon of Babylonian eyes  
still fights in vain, and only in the day of the Last Judgment  
he will know if it was a dream,  
or if he was delirious, amidst the angels,  
as Paul on his way to Damascus.

On the way to Damascus

Where will it be the scale that goes to heaven ?
- you ask -, while the moths fall  
in the tapestry of the temple.  
Somebody knew it. In the Sacred Book
the four winged angels go down  
and then up the steps; but a man  
that  fought until the fall of dawn  
with the dragon of Babylonian eyes  
still fights in vain, and only in the day of the Last Judgment  
he will know if it was a dream,  
or if he was delirious, amidst the angels,  
as Paul on his way to Damascus.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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